swell and wind from north-west; but it began
veering to west and south-west, which is fair.
The steamers then ranged alongside of us, one
on each side, as close as possible without touching,
and, with the whole force of lungs of
officers and men, gave us, not three, but a prolongation
of cheers, to which, of course, we responded.
Having done the same to the Terror,
away they went, and in an hour or two were out
of sight, leaving us with an old gull or two and
the rocky Rona to look at; and then was the
time to see if any one flinched from the undertaking.
Every one's cry was, ' Now we are off
at last!' No lingering look was cast behind.
We drank Lady Franklin's health at the old
gentleman's table, and, it being his daughter's birthday,
hers too. But the wind, which had become
fair as the steamers left (as if to give the latest
best news of us), in the evening became foul
from the north-west, and we were going northward
instead of westward. The sky was clear,
the air bracing and exhilarating. I had a slight
attack of aguish headache the evening before,
but am now clear-headed, and I went to bed
thinking of you and dear William, whose
portrait is now looking at me."

Such was the farewell to England, and the
sailing away in right earnest to the Arctic seas
—such the steady and hopeful spirit in which
officers and men confronted the unknown and the
dreadful future that was awaiting them. The
next passages in the journal, which can be
profitably extracted for quotation, describe the
companions of Captain Fitzjames's mess.

"In our mess we have the following, whom I
shall probably from time to time give you
descriptions of: First Lieutenant, Gore; second,
Le Vescomte; third, Fairholme; purser, Osmar;
surgeon, Stanley; assistant-surgeon, Goodsir;
ice-master (so called) Reid; mates—Sargent,
Des Voeux, Crouch; second master, Collins;
commander, you know better than he does himself.

"The most original character of all—rough,
intelligent, unpolished, with a broad north
country accent, but not vulgar, good-humoured,
and honest-hearted—is Reid, a Greenland whaler,
native of Aberdeen, who has commanded whaling
vessels, and amuses us with his quaint remarks
and descriptions of the ice, catching whales, &c.
For instance, he just said to me, on my saying
we should soon be off Cape Farewell at this rate,
and asking if one might not generally expect a
gale off it (Cape Farewell being the south point
of Greenland), ' Ah! now, Mister Jems, we'll
be having the weather fine, sir! fine. No ice
at arl about it, sir, unless it be the bergs—arl
the ice'll be gone, sir, only the bergs, which I
like to see. Let it come on to blow, look out
for a big 'un. Get under his lee, and hold onto
him fast, sir, fast. If he drifts near the land,
why, he grounds afore you do.' The idea of all
the ice being gone, except the icebergs, is racy
beyond description. I have just had a game of
chess with the purser, Osmar, who is delightful
... I was at first inclined to think he was a
stupid old man, because he had a chin and took
snuff; but he is as merry-hearted as any young

man, full of quaint dry sayings, always good-
humoured, always laughing, never a bore, takes
his pinch after dinner, plays a rubber, and beats
me at chess—and, he is a gentleman."

We shall hear more of the quaint ice-master,
and his shrewd north country sayings. For the
present, he must give way to a character of
paramount interest—to the high-spirited old man
who nobly led the expedition, at a time of his
life when he might well have rested among us,
content with his high professional position and
his well-won fame. Every word in the journal
relating to Sir John Franklin is now of such interest
and value, that we can hardly do better than
mass together the detached passages in which
bis name occurs, with the object of presenting
all that is characteristically related of him to the
reader's mind at one view.

"6th June.—To-day Sir John Franklin showed
me such part of his instructions as related to the
main purpose of our voyage, and the necessity
of observing everything from a flea to a whale in
the unknown regions we are to visit. He also
told me I was especially charged with the
magnetic observations. He then told all the officers
that he was desired to claim all their remarks,
journals, sketches, &c., on our return to
England, and read us some part of his instructions
to the officers of the Trent, the first vessel he
commanded, in 1818, with Captain Buchan, on
an attempt to reach the North Pole, pointing
out how desirable it is to note everything, and
give one's individual opinion on it. He spoke
delightfully of the zealous co-operation he
expected from all, and his desire to do full justice
to the exertions of each . . . . . . . At dinner,

to-day, Sir John gave us a pleasant account of
his expectations of being able to get through the
ice on the coast of America, and his disbelief in
the idea that there is open sea to the northward.
He also said he believed it to be possible to
reach the Pole over the ice by wintering at
Spitzbergen, and going in the spring before the
ice broke up and drifted to the south, as it did
with Parry on it . . . . . . 8th.—I like a man

who is in earnest. Sir John Franklin read the
Church-service to-day and a sermon so very
beautifully, that I defy any man not to feel the
force of what he would convey. The first
Sunday he read was a day or two before we
sailed, when Lady Franklin, his daughter, and
niece attended. Every one was struck with his
extreme earnestness of manner, evidently
proceeding from real conviction. . . . . . . We are

very fond of Sir John Franklin, who improves
very much as we come to know more of him. He
is anything but nervous or fidgety; in fact, I
should say remarkable for energetic decision in
sudden emergencies; but I should think he
might be easily persuaded where he has not
already formed a strong opinion."

These are slight touches; but the stamp of
truth is on every one of them. They add to
the deep regret which the sacrifice of such a
man inspires; but they also strengthen our
conviction of the Christian courage and resignation
with which he met his dreadful end.