southward. It is by no means likely that Franklin's ships could drift out of Prince Regent Inlet through Fury and Hecla Straits, and get into the Atlantic by Hudson Strait, but they may have drifted out of Barrow Straits and down the Bay as those of Sir James Ross did in 1849, and those of Lieut. De Haven did last year!

But Captain Ommanney has taken great pains to investigate the subject and it would be imperfect without adding his letter to the Secretary of the Admiralty. It happened that a tour of official inspection took him to Limerick. He was not sent by the Admiralty as stated by His account runs thus;

some.

Limerick, April 16th, 1852.

SIR,-I beg to acquaint you, for the information of the Right Hon. the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, that agreeably with their desire contained in your letter of the 10th instant, I was enabled to proceed direct to Limerick, where I have found Mr. Simpson, late mate of the Renovation, and Thomas Davis, seaman of the same vessel. Having made every inquiry into the cir cumstance referred to, the result is herewith submitted to their lordships.

The statement made to me by Mr. Simpson, in the presence of Com. J. J. Palmer, R.N., Com. William Ellis (a), R.N., and the Inspector of Police, Captain William Caldwell, is herewith transmitted. That two vessels were seen in the position described, there seems to be no shadow of doubt, though it is to be regretted that, owing to the distance at which the Renovation passed from the piece of ice with the ships lying on it, no fact can be elicited by which the vessels can be identified, though I have put every question which my experience dictates. The evidence of Thomas Davis, seaman, who was at the helm when the ships were first seen, and all the time when they were in sight, confirms the fact of such vessels being seen in the position referred to, as while at the wheel he could distinguish them with his naked eye. The rest of his information con. firms what has been stated by Mr. Simpson.

The fact of having passed these vessels without examining them must appear strange to many. It has been my earnest desire to obtain some satisfactory reason for this apparent act of supineness, and to extract the feeling which existed in the minds of those on board the Renovation at beholding such an exraordinary sight. The duration of the time while the vessels were visible appears to be no more than three-quarters of an hour. The Renovation at the time was making about a W.b.N. (true) course, running six or seven knots an hour through the water.

Mr. Simpson appears an unassuming person, and, entertaining a very proper deference to the authority of his superior, would not presume to alter the course without the master's sanction, who lay ill in bed at the time, and did not come on deck when the circumstance was reported. He made known the fact to him, and he fully expected to receive orders to haul up and ascertain what they were; but receiving no instructions continued on his course. The impression which struck him when looking at the ships, was that they were wrecks, but he felt an inward desire to overhaul them, which he mentioned to Mr. Lynch, the only passenger on board, who, when the vessels were nearly out of sight astern, expressed an opinion to Mr. Simpson that they were Franklin's ships. He saw Mr. Lynch go down to Mr. Coward, but does not know the result of the interview on that occasion.

Thomas Davis states that there was no curiosity or interest evinced among the crew after seeing the vessels, but there were a great many icebergs seen, and they felt more anxiety for the safety of their own ship. It was his first trip to Quebec; had never seen icebergs before. It is his opinion that no one in the ship knew of any reward for the discovery of the missing expedition, and that he never knew anything of Franklin's expedition, until last January when at Plymouth.

The circumstance of a ship's crew being ignorant of the reward held out by government for the discovery of Franklin's expedition may at first sight

appear incredible. In consequence I have made the most searching inquiry in this town if the reward ever obtained publicity; but even the principal merchants, the chief of police, the postmaster, the editor of the Limerick Chronicle, the Chambers of Commerce, and the tradespeople immediately connected with the mercantile community, brokers, and masters of Quebec traders -never heard of such reward being offered until the present moment.

I have had lengthened conversations with Mr. Lynch's uncle, Mr. Creilly, ship chandler, and his sister. They can both certify to the accuracy of the extract from their relative's letter which was published in the Limerick Chronicle, and which was purposely inserted for information, by the advice of a friend of Mr. Creilly, to whom he showed the letter. Mr. Lynch is a person of intelligence and good education. In his youth he passed three years at sea, and since has been engaged in business and agricultural pursuits. While employed under the Board of Public Works as a pay clerk, he received a reward for his gallant conduct in defending himself against a party who attacked him for the purpose of robbing him of about £2,200 of government money under his charge, which he was instrumental in saving. This gentleman appears to have manifested more curiosity and interest respecting the two ships than any other person on board the Renovation, for during the remainder of the voyage he had frequent discussions with Mr. Coward on the subject, which vexed him, feeling that he ought to have searched the vessels.

On arrival at Quebec he remained two or three days on board the Renovation, during which time he asked Mr. Simpson to accompany him, and return to the search of the two ships.

I submit that this gentleman may be communicated with, as his information will probably be very useful in stating all that transpired: he is now residing at Prescott, in upper Canada-his name is John Supple Lynch.

It is a matter of some importance to know that the position of the Renovation as first reported appears incorrect, and that she was considerably to the northward of her reckoning (about eighty miles), which will bring the ice on which the ships lay, nearly on the 47th parallel; this fact is clear, from the circumstance that the Renovation was nearly run on shore, owing to this error. About 10 P.M. of the same day, when the ships were passed, Mr. Simpson was called up suddenly by the second mate reporting a light. On reaching the deck, a lighthouse (which must have been St. John's) was only three or four miles distant; they immediately hauled to the wind, and put about on the starboard tack. The following day they were set right by a French brig as to their position; they bore up, the wind having changed to the north east, after running along the coast they rounded Cape Race, at about 2 P.M. Mr. Simpson states the course steered from the ships was about W.b N. (true), and running at the rate of six or seven knots for fourteen hours. With this data the position of the ships where seen is assumed to be E.b.S. of St. John's, about ninety miles. Soundings had been tried for on the previous day with 60 fathoms of line. A tracing of the assumed position of the ships is herewith transmitted.

In the absence of the log, Mr. Simpson is unable to furnish any dates. A considerable number of icebergs were passed the day previous to seeing the ships, and there were many in sight at the time. I also ascertained that the Jessy, of Limerick, passed through a chain of bergs on the 16th of April, 1851, about the same meridian as the Renovation, but further to the southward.

I have endeavoured to ascertain from Mr. Daniel Gorman, the most experienced seaman in this port, who has been employed in the American trade since 1809, and employed under the same owners here in command of vessels since 1829, such information as may bear on the point, to show the drift of the current and icebergs near the banks of Newfoundland. I beg to enclose it.

On reaching the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Renovation was detained by the ice for several days with the other ships bound to Quebec at that time, which is mentioned in Mr. Lynch's letter. The second mate and several of the crew ran from the vessel at Quebec. Although Mr. Simpson is satisfied that each vessel had three masts, but, owing to the distance, he cannot affirm whether they were ships or barques, from the same circumstance he can give no satisfactory answer to the other details respecting their fittings, except he is very No. 5. VOL. XXI. 2 N

clear that the vessel with her yards up had no sails bent; and, respecting the boats, there were none suspended to davits or to be seen outside the ships.

Whatever ships they may have been, whether Franklin's or not, the fate of the crews must be a subject of public sympathy, and many surmises will result. My firm conviction is that those vessels drifted a considerable distance on that piece of ice; from the description given, I cannot denominate it a berg, the most elevated part being no more than 30 or 40 feet high, while it was five miles long, which appears very like a portion of a heavy floe, with a hummock upon it. From the fact of being found drifting with the current, which sets along the coast of Labrador from Davis Straits, I infer they came from a high northern latitude. The removal of the spars, and absence of the boats, indicate that the abandonment of the ships had been a work of time and deliberation. The fact of the ships being close together has the appearance of their being

consorts.

If the hulls were in a floating condition, when released from the ice, there is yet a chance that they may be fallen in with some day, as timber ships have drifted to the coast of Portugal and the Bay of Biscay.

I have spared no pains to obtain every particle of information on this important circumstance; and it is to be deplored that no measures were taken to examine the vessels it appears to have been a subject of deep regret on the minds of Mr. Coward and Mr. Simpson ever since, and Mr. Lynch was strongly impressed with the idea that they were Sir John Franklin's ships.

In this investigation I have received the co-operation of Commander J. J. Palmer, Commander William Ellis (a), and Captain William Caldwell, Inspector of Police for the county of Limerick, who have rendered me every assistance in their power. Mr. Simpson has shown every desire to give all the information which he is now enabled to do, and I have every confidence in his candour and integrity.

I have the honor to be, Sir,

Your very obedient Servant,

ERASMUS OMMANNEY, Captain R.N.

Now to doubt that these ships were really seen as stated would be to set at nought the testimony of two respectable persons, supported by the seamen of the watch; none of whom could possibly have any motive to mislead the world. And the circumstance of such an event not having been reported long ago only adds to the appearance of truth which pervades the whole account. Well indeed may it form a matter of wonder to some, how vessels could be passed under such circumstances, were it not that the commander of the merchant ship has the main object of his voyage only before him. The Renovation had a fine fair wind, and her commander was unwell; the scene of the wrecks on the ice was not before his eyes, even the circumstance of a reward offered was unknown to him, and perhaps all on board; the object of his voyage was before him, and how much easier was it to pursue that, leaving everything alone, than to encounter danger in reconnoitring or examining mere whaler wrecks?

And of whaler wrecks it is very well known that three took place in 1849. None are stated to have taken place in 1848, 1850, or 1851. It is also said of those of 1849, that they were fairly overwhelmed by the ice and abandoned by their crews, who reaching the Danish settlements on the west coast of Greenland, were brought home by a Danish vessel and landed at Hull in October 1849.

There is however a feature in the account of the ships reported by the Renovation which will not fail to occur to the mind of the seaman,

and is that to which we alluded as unobserved by the landsman inexperienced in nautical matters. These ships are dismantled aloft, one even to leaving her lower masts only standing, and the other with nothing above her topmasts and no sails on her yards. Such a process as that of stripping a ship aloft must have been deliberately done, why we need not enquire. But are whalers left thus when they are abandoned by their crews in case of being nipped, do they stop to dismantle aloft; or do their crews leave them and make their escape on the ice as fast as they can.

Since the above was written the following has appeared in the Dumfries Courier with which we shall conclude our observations. The Esquimaux sketch will be found in our volume for 1849, page 603, and is an extraordinary coincidence with the position of one of the ships.

With reference to the account of two ships having been seen upon a floe of ice on April 20, 1851, one cannot without feelings of the deepest regret lament that every possible exertion had not been made by the parties so favoured, to have at once investigated them more closely; as, if ships were seen at all, of which there appears but very little doubt, it would not have been difficult to form something beyond a conjecture as to what ships in such a position they really were. Log-books kept up to the day the vessels were abandoned, letters or other documents, would have been found, which would at once have pointed to where the crew ought to be looked for, or, at all events, have given intelligence of their fate.

The description given of the difference of size would, in my opinion, at once confirm them to be those of Sir John Franklin, the Erebus and Terror. The former, although not above forty-five tons larger, had the appearance of being more than 100 tons more than the latter; and it would appear eviden that they had remained in that position for a length of time, and had not been at once abandoned, as all that seamen could do had been done to relieve the one represented as lying on her broadside, namely, getting down her top-hamper, such as masts, yards, &c. For nothing was seen but the three lower masts and the bowsprit standing.

As a proof that these vessels were abandoned, the vessel sitting upright had her sails unbent, a circumstance which would not have been the case had the crew been on board; for in reaching such a latitude the temperature of the sea water is so high, that it would cause the most rapid decay on the ice, when the ships might be momentarily expected to settle down into the water. If, as we suppose, the ships were abandoned, when reaching the water they ought not to be expected to have floated many hours, as they could not have been forced up into such a position without sustaining very great injury. Such was the case with the Terror on a former occasion, March 16th, 1837, when she was forced into a precisely similar position entirely out of water, to the northward of Cape Comfort, where she remained 118 days, when the ice was eventually cut, and the ship again launched into the water. During this time she had altered her position, floating down the straits a distance of 200 miles, and would in all probability, had she not been cut down, have reached the Atlantic, if not the banks of Newfoundland. On such an occasion she would have immediately sunk, had the crew not remained on board. As it was, the pumps, besides taking every other precaution, were kept in perfect readiness, and the chain cables were got round the ship to keep her together.

We may suppose the ships to have been blown out of their winter quarters of 1845 (Cape Riley). The ice breaking up much earlier than might have

been expected, which would appear to have been the case, by reports from that quarter brought by the late searching expedition- of things being found which had belonged to the Erebus and Terror, which would not have been left behind if they had not been unexpectedly hurried off; and most likely by E. or N.E. gales, which would have set them over to Cape Walker, where, getting into a more exposed position, and tideway, the disaster of having been forced upon the ice is then likely to have taken place. Moreover, from the circumstance of Dr. Rae having found a piece of a boat's mast and boat's awning stauncheon, both of which had belonged to one of ti.M. ships, baving upon them the government mark; in addition, the boat's mast having engraved upon it S.C., which, from its dimensions, shows it to have been the mizenmast of the S.C. (second cutter) of one of the ships, each of them carrying three-first, second, and third cutters. Now, from finding this, it might be fairly supposed that something at this point may have befallen the ships, and that one if no more of the boats might have attempted to escape to the tract so well known to their gallant leader on former occasions, the most likely to be attended with the means of support. Or, we may ask, how came that mast into the position where Dr. Rae found it?

We may now look back into Barrow Straits, where the ships were, and suppose them forced upon the ice, and it taking its usual course-that of slowly drifting into Baffin Bay, down Davis Straits, and so on to the Atlantic.

In thus expressing such opinions we do not for one moment infer that there may be no hope; on the contrary, it would throw new light upon the expedition, and excite much greater hopes than ever of the survivors being discovered. And we doubt not, or sincerely hope that the matter may be so viewed by those in power as to cause the strictest search along the west shores of Davis Straits, more particularly the prominent headlands (Cape Walsingham and Resolution Island, &c.,) where they may find the very sails unbent from the Terror's yards forming houses over our poor unfortunate countrymen. We may hope that all would not have abandoned the ships until they were about to enter the Atlantic, where the greatest danger from such a situation would be expected.

This

We would call attention to the Esquimaux sketch of Sir J. Franklin's ships, forwarded to the Admiralty by Captain Parker of the ship True Love, on the 4th October, 1849, where one ship is represented upon her side. will be found in the return of the Arctic expeditions, ordered to be printed by the House of Commons, March 5th, 1852.

EDWARDS PATENT PRESERVED POTATO.-Arctic Expedition.

From the very favourable reports made in the previous expeditions upon the excellent qualities and use of Edwards' Patent Preserved Potato, and of its valuable antiscorbutic properties, we are glad to find a large quantity of this imperishable vegetable diet has been supplied for the ships in Sir Edward Belcher's expedition, and from the extreme portability, and facility in cooking this vegetable, by merely adding boiling water it is ready for use in a few minutes, and a great desideratum for the Arctic voyagers.

We subjoin a letter from Captain M. De Courcy, of H.M.S. Helena, bearing testimony of the keeping, and antiscorbutic properties of Edwards' Preserved Potato, in the tropics, and being eminently desirable for issue with salt meat.