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[Frontispiece: LIEUTENANT SCHWATKA]
On the 25th of September, 1880, the leading English newspaper publishedthe following words:—
"Lieutenant Schwatka has now resolved the last doubts that could havebeen felt about the fate of the Franklin expedition. He has traced theone untraced ship to its grave beyond the ocean, and cleared thereputation of a harmless people from an undeserved reproach. He hasgiven to the unburied bones of the crews probably the only safeguardagainst desecration by wandering wild beasts and heedless EsquimauxWhich that frozen land allowed. He has brought home for reverentsepulture, in a kindlier soil, the one body which bore transport. Overthe rest he has set up monuments to emphasize the undying memory oftheir sufferings and their exploit. He has gathered tokens by whichfriends and relatives may identify their dead, and revisit inimagination the spots in which the ashes lie. Lastly, he has carriedhome with him material evidence to complete the annals of Arcticexploration."
The record of Schwatka's expedition is written in these pages. Much ofit has already been published in detached letters by the 'New YorkHerald', which engaged the author to act as its correspondent duringthe journey. Other hands than his have reduced it to its present shape,for his restless energy has again driven him toward the North, and hasenlisted him among the crew of the 'Rodgers', which is seeking thelost 'Jeannette'. Beyond a mere concatenation of the chapters ithas been nowhere altered with a view to literary effect or sensationalcolor. The notes from which it is drawn were made from day to day; andif critics find in it facts which are either improbable or unpalatable,they may, at least, have the satisfaction of knowing that it is afaithful narrative of carefully sifted evidence.
This needs to be said because the statements of the writer have alreadybeen questioned in one or two details. He says that the partyexperienced such cold weather as was almost without precedent in Arctictravel, the temperature falling to seventy-one degrees below zero. Hesays that the party killed more than five hundred reindeer, besidesmusk-oxen, bears, walrus, and seal, in regions where Rae and McClintockcould scarcely find game at all, and where the crews of the'Erebus' and 'Terror' starved to death. He says that of thelast survivors of Franklin's party the majority were officers, arguingthat the watches and silver relics found with their skeletons go far toprove their rank. These statements have been doubted. The accuracy ofthe thermometers being questioned, they were tested and found to becuriously exact. The facilities for procuring game were assisted by theuse of improved weapons; and besides, as Sir Leopold McClintock hasjustly shown, it was merely a tradition, not an ascertained fact, thatthese sub-arctic regions were destitute of animal life. The method bywhich the official position of the bodies was determined isindisputably open to objection. "Watches and silver relics," writesVice-admiral Sir George Richards, "do not necessarily indicate acorresponding number of officers. Such light valuable articles wouldnaturall