001      |      Vol_XV-0106                                                                                                                  

       

GEORGE M. DOUGLAS

LAKEFIELD, ONTARIO

       

ADMIRAL SIR EDWARD BELCHER, K.C.B. ADMIRAL SIR EDWARD BELCHER, K.C.B.

        Sir Edward Belcher (1799- ----- 1877) was the descendant of an old and distinguished

New England family, whose founder in the New World was Andrew Belcher ,

born 1615, son of Thomas Belcher of London. Andrew Belcher's name

first appears in New England in 1659. His great-grandson was Chief

Justice Jonathan Belcher, and Jonathan's son Andrew became a

prominent merchant of Halifax , N.S. , and a member of the Nova Scotia

Council. In 1792 , Andrew married Marianne Von Geyer, daughter of

Frederick and Susan Von Geyer of Boston, another old and distinguished

New England family. By this marriage there were 11 children , of whom

Edward was born in 1799. Edward's sister Catherine married Charles

Marryat , M.P., father of the novelist Frederick Marryat. . Hence, when

Frederick visited the United States U.S. in 1837, at the height of his fame as a

novelist , he was eagerly hailed by the American P p ress as a "Boston Boy"

though later threatened with lynching for the things he said about

America and American habits.

        Edward Belcher entered the Royal Navy in 1812. In 1816 he was a

midshipman in the "Superb" Superb and took part in the bombardment of Algiers.

He was made L l ieutenant in 1818, and in 1825 was appointed As'st assistant

S s urveyor to H.M.S. "Blossom" Blossom, in command of Captain F.W.Beech e y , : and

sailed on a voyage of discovery, exploration, and survey which lasted

three years, and which covered the entire Pacific Ocean, the Be h ring

Strait s , and the North American A a rctic coast eastward to Point Barrow.

The greater part of the "Blossom's" Blossom's time was spent visiting and

surveying the Pacific I i slands. A manuscript in Belcher's writing

dated "Pitcairn Island 4th Dec. 1825 (Sunday) " describes the island

and it inhabitants at that date, and a manusc r ipt also in Belcher's writing

002      |      Vol_XV-0107                                                                                                                  
gives a long description of Tahiti. These descriptions correspond so

closely with those of Capt Beech e y in his "Voyage of the "Blossom" Voyage of the Blossom

that Beechey probably copied Belcher's MS. It was the custom that all

journals , etc. , kept by the officers of the Royal Navy exploring vessels

should be first handed over to the Admiralty on the return of such

vessels to England. It was on th e is voyage of th e is "Blossom" Blossom that

Belcher gained his first experience of the Arctic.

        When Beechey left England in 1825 an important part of his instructions

directed him to proceed eastward from Be h ring Strait in the summer of

1826 in the hope that Franklin, who was travel l ing westward from the

Mackenzie River that same summer might be met and aided. Franklin was

informed of the instructions given to Beechey, and enjoined not to run

undue risks in attempting to meet the "Blossom" Blossom . Before they left

England on their respective travels Beechey and Franklin had discussed

details of meeting, and arrangement for places where records or caches

might be found. Franklin and some of his men left England on Feb 16 ,

1825 , bound for Be h ring Strait via New York, Canada, and the Mackenzie R. iver.

Beechey left Spithead on May 19th , 1825 , bound for Be h ering Strait via

Cape Horn.

        The extensive explorations and surveys carried out by the

"Blossom" Blossom in the Pacific have no place in an Encyclopedia dealing with

the Arctic. But part of a letter from Belcher to his father may be

quoted on account of its Arctic interest. This letter is dated

" H.M.S "Blossom" Woahoo(one of the Sandwich Islands) May 29th 1826,"

It concludes:---"Tomorrow, on dit, we sail for Peter and Pauls or

" Petropauloskoi where I understand we send dispatchs through St Petersburg

and from where I shall write to you again as the conveyance is sure

and only two months from England. From Peter and Paul's we proceed to

Kotzebue's Sound where we leave a party (on Chamisso Island) to wait for

Franklin and party until our return from Behring Streights. Who will be

003      |      Vol_XV-0108                                                                                                                  
"the unfortunate is a mystery, I do not think it will be me as I expect

to command the Barge on the Northern Survey, no enviable [ ?] ommand you

will say. Should Franklin not arrive before October I think it not

unlikely a party will be left all winter to await him, in which case I

think I will volunteer, this will depend on my judgment of the weather

I find previously . I think it would considerably augment my future

claims. As we have been disappointed in our expectations of supply of

bread and flour here the Captain has said he will go first to China then

here provided we have not Franklin on board, in which case it is

probable we shall go direct home after touching here. As he acts at

present on his own judgment there is no depending on one word he says

therefore I will not lead you astray "

        On her first voyage in A a rctic waters the "Blossom" Blossom reached Icy Cape,

Belcher's services were required for the survey work along the coast

and Elson, the Master of the "Blossom" Blossom was put in command of the barge.

Under his leadership the coast was explored to Point Barrow and a short

distance beyond before they turned back on August 25th

        Meanwhile Franklin on his journey westward from the mouth of the

Mackenzie River had reached his f u a rthest point west at Return Reef

on August 18th. After their long journeys a gap of only 150 miles

had prevented Franklin from connecting with Beechey. If it had not been

for the delay Franklin suffered at Foggy Island he might well have met

Elson at Point Barrow or even to the west of it. Perhaps it is just as

well Franklin did not know of the proximity of the party from the

"Blossom" Blossom or that of the "Blossom" Blossom herself. Had he known these things for

certain he might have been tempted to push on at all costs in an effort

to connect with the "Blossom" Blossom , and such an attempt might have proved

fatal to his party. For he could not, at that date, have overtaken the

barge, and he would have arrived at Kotzebue Sound probably too late

004      |      Vol_XV-0109                                                                                                                  
to connect with the "Blossom" ship .

        Next year the "Blossom" Blossom returned to the Arctic, the intervening time

having been spent in continuing her survey in the Pacific. In 1827

conditions for navigation were less favorable than they had been in 1826

and the "Blossom" Blossom was unable to reach Icy Cape. Once more the barge

was sent eastward , this time under the command of Belcher. After an

unsuccessful search for any traces of Franklin the barge was wrecked in

a sudden and severe storm near the rendezvous at Chamisso Island.

Three lives were lost, and the barge was a total loss. No blame attaches

to Belcher for this misfortune , ; on the contrary , he was not only

exonerated from all blame, but in a report to the Admiralty by Captain

Beechey was complimented for his behavior under very trying circumstances.

        The "Blossom" Blossom returned to England after her long voyage on Oct 12th ,

1828. Belcher was made Commander on March 16th, 1829, and from May 1830 to September

1833 was in command of H.M.S. "Aetna" Aetna engaged mostly in the survey of

the north and west coasts of Africa. Part of this time the "Aetna" Aetna was

stationed in the Duoro to protect British interests while a civil war

raged in Portugal. After being paid off from the "Aetna" Aetna , Belcher was

employed surveying in home waters, especially of those coasts bordering

on the Irish Sea. In 1836 he was appointed to command H.M.S. "Sulphur" Sulphur ,

then on the W w est C c oast of South America, taking over from his old friend

and commander Captain Beechey, whose health required his return to England.

During the next three years the "Sulphur" Sulphur was employed on the survey of the

W w est C c oasts of South and North America. At the end of May 1839 Belcher

received orders to return to England by way of the Cape of Good Hope

and to make further surveys of South Sea Islands while en route.

On the arrival of the "Sulphur" Sulphur at Singapore in October 1840 these orders

were countermanded, and instructions were given to return to China

to take part in the war which had broken out there. For the next year he

005      |      Vol_XV-0110                                                                                                                  
was actively engaged in China waters, especially in surveying

operations in the Canton River. The "Sulphur" Sulphur finally arrived back

in England in July 1842, after a commission of nearly seven years.

        Belcher had been advanced to Post rank May 1841, and had been

decorated for his b distinguished services with a C.B. In January 1843

he received the honor of knighthood. In Nov . 1842 he was appointed to

the command of H.M.S. "Samarang" Samarang for the survey of the China C c oast,

the Phillipine Islands, and Formosa. Belcher prosecuted this

extensive work with marked ability, and for a period of five years .

He returned to England on the last days of 1847.

        In 1852 he was appointed to command the last of the Naval Ar c tic

V v oyages in search of Sir John Franklin's ships. And so, after a

space of twenty years, Belcher, now Sir Edward in recognition of

his distinguished service, returned once more to the North,

and once again was engaged in a search for traces of Franklin.

        This part of Belcher's career is most familiar to the general public

and it may be well briefly to review the events of the Franklin Search

up to the time of his appointment.

        Two N n aval expeditions and a number of private vessels had been

engaged in searching Lancaster Sound and the various straits and inlets

leading from it. But , except for evidence that Franklin had wintered

with his ships at Beech e y Island in 1845- - 46 , no traces of the missing

ships had been found; nor , most strangely, no records, not even at

Beechey Island. The ships of Austen's squadron, immediately preceding ✓

Belcher's, had been hampered in their task by the unfavorable condition

of the ice in the severe winter of 1851- - 52 . In spite of difficulties ,

much exploration had been carried out, and it had been established

with practical certainty that Franklin must have pursued a course by

one of the straits leading to the south from Lancaster Sound, in

pursuance of the orders that had directed him to explore such openings .

006      |      Vol_XV-0111                                                                                                                  
and to seek for a North W w est Passage as close as possible to the

shores of North America.

        In 1852 not only were Franklin's two ships missing, but also the two

ships "Enterprise" Enterprise and "Investigator" Investigator which had been sent into the

Arctic by way of Be h ring Strait s to prosecute the search from the

west eastward, and there was acute uneasiness on their behalf. Public

opinion, though it counted for but little by with the Admiralty, was becomin g

ominously critical of the manner in which the search was being directed

and the barren results achieved. The nervous state of mind of the

Admiralty is reflected in the I i nstructions Belcher was given as regards

the safety of the ships and more especially of the crews. No risks

were to be taken by remaining in the Arctic for longer than a strictly

limited period of time.

        It has become a matter of tradition, one might say dogma, to

describe Belcher as Old; Incompetent; In Bad Health; of No Arctic

Experience; and as having the reputation of being an Unpopular Commander

with his subordinate officers. As regards his A a ge , he was five years

younger than Franklin at the time Franklin was appointed to command

the discovery ships of 1845.

       ¶ The charge of I i ncompetence may be

dismissed at once as absurd. Belcher's highly distinguished career

of the previous twenty-five years is a sufficient answer to this

charge. A typical instance of branding Belcher as I i ncompetent

may be quoted here, and from one of whom it might be least expected.

It occurs in a book by the well - known Archdeacon Hudson Stuck,

missio j n ary, travel l er in the Arctic, and author of some of the best

books about Alaska that have been written. In his "Winter Journey Winter Journey

around Our Arctic Coasts" around Our Arctic Coasts , Archdeacon Stuck writes thus of Belcher —

"Belcher, to whom I referred disparagingly, opened his career by

" losing the "Blossom"s barge — " etc. There is less excuse for Archdeacon Stuck to make such a statement

007      |      Vol_XV-0112                                                                                                                  
than for almost any other man, Clement Captain AI l bert Markham alone

excepted. Stuck had read Beechey's narrative, for he writes of it

in high praise, which it deserves. He also refers to "My copy" of the

book, in which Beechey's chapter on the Eskimos is annotated in

manuscript " By the man who, whatever one may think of some of his

" views, knows more about the western Eskimos at first hand than any

"other living man — V Stefansson — and it is surprising to fi how little

"he finds to correct."

        It may should be noted in passing that Belcher may have written this descripti on

of the Eskimos referred to, for he came in closer and more frequent

contact with them than Beechey did: and it had been pointed out that

Belcher almost certainly wrote the description of Pitcairn Island and

of Tahiti tha n t appears in Beechey's book.

        The Archdeacon makes it plain that he does not agree with Stefansson

on "Some of his views" without stating what views, nor why he disagreed.

On what grounds does he disagree with Beechey regarding Belcher and the

loss of the barge ? In fact the Archdeacon's statement in regard to

Belcher is unfounded, preposterous, and maliciously ignorant and presumptuous : and comin g

from a n man author so generally accurate, so well known and distinguishe d

it may well be mistaken as authoritative.

        Belcher was by no means an incompetent officer, but is sometimes an

incompetent and confused writer, and on this hand therefore often leaves himself

wide open to misinterpretation and criticism. But on some subjects

he wrote very well, especially those dealing with technical matters.

His "Treatise on Nautical Surveying" was long a standard work on the

subject. His Reports to the Admiralty are clearly expressed, and so are

his Instructions to his officers, though often written under to meet complicated and

unpredictable circumstances. He was a trained engineer, an expert

mechanical draughtsman , and an artist of considerable ability, for his

008      |      Vol_XV-0113                                                                                                                  
water - colors and sketch e s illustrating the Arctic in his account of his expedition

are much the best of any of the Naval officers of the period.

He was most ingenious in the devi s c es he employed to secure the safety

of the ships and the comfort and well-being of their crews; and in

making accurate scientific observations. On these matters he wrote well

but they are usually beyond the comprehension of his critics and he has

been judged by his account of matters concerning which he wrote badly.

       ¶ Far too much has been made of the charge that Belcher was unpopular

with his officers. The Royal Naval Service of the period 1825--1850

was saturated with sychphancy, a down-growth from the latter Hanoverian

monarchs, particularly from William IVth ("Silly Billy") who posed

as a Sailor King and the Patron of the Royal Navy. The inevitable

concomitants to sycophancy are jealousies and quarrels, and such were

peculiarly rife among the officers of those ships which served long

commissions on the surveys of the Pacific Ocean. In this service

Belcher was pre-eminent, and such officers as Collinson,Kellett,and

others had gained well deserved renown. Kellett appears to have been

jealous of Belcher, and adroit at using others to make trouble. The

affair on the "Sulphur" Sulphur affords an illustration of this. When Belcher

joined that ship as Captain, he found Kellett, who had been First

Lieutenant under Beechey acting as Commander until his arrival, and

Collinson temporarily promoted to First Lieutenant.

        Collinson had been with Belcher for three years on the "Aetna" Aetna .

During that time the men were good friends. Collinson writes of

Belcher that he was exceedingly " friendly and considerate" : "It is a

"pleasure to go with Belcher ---the most indefatigable person I have

ever met---only one fault, he is his own trumpeter . " And Belcher

wrote to the Hydrographic Office praisin g Collinson : "Mr Collinson is

"the best officer on the ship . " Later, when vacancies occurred in

the As'st Surveyorship, Collinson was passed over, and he appears to

009      |      Vol_XV-0114                                                                                                                  
have held Belcher responsible for this, which seems unlikely. When Belche r

joined the "Sulphur" Sulphur his appointment was viewed "With trepidation" by

Kellett and Collinson, which indi ac ca tes trouble-making on the part of

Kellett, for Collinson writes that the new commander behaved "With the

"greatest cordiality--no doubt the best man we have."

        ¶ One suspects

that Kellett was in some way responsible for the trouble that afterwards

came to a head between Belcher and Collinson, though Kellett was not

actually on the ship at the time. It is not recorded what the trouble wa s

about. Perhaps Belcher " " Blew his own trumpet" too much and too often,

and this i tt rr itated Collinson 's modesty to such an extent that he showed

it before Belcher who would be quick to re - act, and to do so in such a manner that

Collinson felt his honour was injured. He therefore appealed to the

Admiral of the China Station requesting a court martial, which the

Admiral refused to grant, probably for lack of sufficient reason. However

he transferred Collinson to his own ship, and later sent him back to

England. On arrival there Collinson laid his case before the Admiralty ,

who refused to take any action in the matter. One may imagine that

the Admiral on the China Station had informed the Admiralty that

Collinson was a very able officer, but that he had no real grievance

against Belcher. Collinson was given the post of Surveying Officer

and returned to the China Station with Captain Beaufort. He was then

sent aboard the "Starling" Starling , once more under Kellett. Collinson perhaps

realized that he had made a fuss about nothing, and that the action of

the Admiralty had healed the hurt his honor felt. As has been noted ,

Belcher, Kellett and Collinson all distinguished themselves by their

valuable services in the China War.

        The choice of Belcher as commander of the expedition of 1852 has been

criticized, but it was the logical and indeed the best choice. His ability

had been proved by twenty-five years of exploration and surveys covering

the whole of the Pacific Ocean. Such criticisms might have been be applied with

010      |      Vol_XV-0115                                                                                                                  
more justice to Franklin, who was even older than Belcher at the time of

his appointment, and whose experience in exploration Arctic travel had been limited

to journeys by land and small boats, and who lacked experience knowledge of

exploration by ships.

        Belcher, in command of the expedition, was Captain of the "Assistance" Assistance ,

with the "Pioneer" Pioneer , a small steam vessel, as consort . , He assumed assuming what

was considered the more important task of exploring the Wellington

Channel. Kellett was appointed Captain of the "Resolute" Resolute with the

"Intrepid" Intrepid as consort, a steam vessel similar to the "Pioneer" Pioneer .

Kellett was directed to search the western parts of Barrow Straits

and Melville Sound, through which Parry had passed thirty years before.

As Captain of the "Resolute" Resolute and senior officer of the western division ,

Kellett appears to have become impatient of any control by Belcher

and to consider his an independent command. Perhaps McClure, when

Kellett rescued him and the crew of the "Investigator" Investigator from their

imprisonment in Mercy Bay at the north of Banks Land, may have

encouraged Kellett in this attitude, for so it was that McClure had

treated his superior officer Collinson.

        There is no evidence of bad feeling between Belcher and the officers

immediately under him. Commander Richards, Belcher's second in command

on the "Assistance" Assistance , proved himself a zealous and efficient officer and

a consistent friend to his Captain.

        Belcher was ever most concerned with the health and welfare of his

crews. He had reproved Kellett for permitting his men to be over-worked

at the killing labor of dragging sledges, and thereby permanently injuring

their health for no better reason than over-zealous competition among

Kellett's junior officers. When in command of the "Samarang" Samarang his

coxswain said "We called him 'Old Vinegar Face' but the men liked him."

Apparently "Old Vinegar Face" was a term of affection rather than

opprob r ium.

011      |      Vol_XV-0116                                                                                                                  

        Evidence of Belcher's for e bearing disposition may be found in the

relations between him and his nephew Frederick Marryat, a brilliant

but turbulent and quarrelsome character , even at that time when quarrels

were common. One of Frederick's sons , Sam , was a midshipman aboard the

"Samarang" Samarang , and Sam appears to have possessed all his father's objectionable

qualities unredeemed by any of his good ones, and added besides some bad

qualities peculiarly his own. Sam made such a pest of himself that

Belcher was obliged to get rid of him and send him back to England.

A letter from Sir Edward to Frederick Marryat throws light on the

writer's for e bearance under provocation. It is dated "H.M.S ? "Samara i n g"

" Anjer July 13th 1846 " and reads " Dear Fred:- They tell me you are

"very wrothy against me but this is nonsense. You ought to support me

"for never in my born days did I ever submit to such conduct as I have

"put up with from 'Master Sam' " The letter tells at some length

the trouble 'Master Sam' caused, and concludes "And now, my dear fellow

" let your steam off, and be prepared to make the best of the bargain

" when we return " Father Frederick and son Sam did let

their steam off in a long and furious effusion directed against the

Admiralty, the Navy, and particularly against Sir Edward Belcher. It

appears to have been intended for the closing chapter of some projected

novel. In reading over this stuff one's sym ap pa thies are strongly on the

side of Sir Edward Belcher.

        The most damaging charge against Belcher, and the most frequently

repeated is "That he showed undue haste in abandoning his vessels".

Belcher had been given repeated instructions not to incur risks of

loss of life. Finally , under date of April 28th 1854 , the Admiralty gave

positive instructions to Belcher , directing : "Your special attention to

" the measures they now require to be adopted for at once withdrawing

" if possible, the whole of the force now employed in the search of

" Sir John Franklin from the Polar Seas " and " If Captain Kellett

012      |      Vol_XV-0117                                                                                                                  
has been unable to move from his position at Melville Island it may

be necessary to give orders to him to abandon the "Resolute" and the "I

"Intrepid" and secure his retreat to Beechey Island --"

       ¶ In the early summer of 1854 Belcher's ships were hopelessly beset on

the east side of Wellington Channel. His flagship "Assistance" Assistance was

leaking badly, and there was no prospect of her floating even if free.

The abandonment of these vessels was a matter of necessity. Kellett's

ships were beset in the pack of Melville Sound, in no immediate danger

but with no prospect of liberation except by the slow and perhaps

fatal drift of the pack into Baffin Bay. This the "Resolute" Resolute

eventually did, in safety and the fact was seized by Belcher's detractors to

show how unnecessary the order for abandonment was. In fact it does

nothing of the sort. Belcher was in a difficult position and the

Admiralty orders to withdraw were imperative. Kellett's ships

were not actually in a hopeless condition, but they were burdened with

the crew of the "Investigator" Investigator , already abandoned. In the face of

Admiralty orders Belcher could not take the risk of ordering the

crews of the "Resolute" Resolute and the "Intrepid" Intrepid to remain on their ships.

Kellett and his men would have gladly obeyed such an order, and the

order to abandon their vessels was naturally very unwelcome to them.

But their work was done, and very well done: there was nothing to be

gained by s staying on their ships. The ships themselves were valueless ,

they were obsolete, and as Belcher truly said, "Of no more value than

so much cordwood." Belcher played safe, and by means of three ships

which had then joined at Beechey Island, brought all of his men and

the crew of the "Investigator" Investigator back to England in safety.

        I have given as an example of the cultivated persistent bias against Belcher ,

leading even such a man as Archdeacon Stuck to make damaging and

unjustified reflections on his competence. What shall be said about

Albert Markham, one of the notable explorers of a later date ?

013      |      Vol_XV-0118                                                                                                                  
Markham states that Belcher's order to abandon the ships was given

"For some unaccountable reason, best known to Sir Edward Belcher" ; and

again , "This wholesale abandonment of a fine squadron without any

"apparent reason." These statements are little short of bewildering,

and it has been shown they are completely wrong. But coming from Markham

it is not surprising that they should be accepted as authoritative.

Such perversion and misrepresentation of facts e c all for more than passing

notice. What prompted it ? Was it merely reprehensible ignorance and

carelessness ? Was the perversion deliberate ? and if so, for what end?

Surely Markham must have been above a desire for cheap popularity by

saying something the multitude would find acceptable sensational ? He may have been

influenced by the brilliant Sherard Osborn e whose friend and protege

he was. Belcher had incurred Osborn e 's bitter enmity for a rebuke

which one can easily imagine to have been well deserved.

        It is strange to find Markham condemning Belcher for obedience to orders

which almost certainly saved many lives; when, in later years, in blind obedience to an

order which he knew must be a blunder, and the execution of which he

himself described as "Mathematically Impossible" , he sent the latest

battleship of the British Navy to the bottom with a loss of nearly 400

lives. This, truly, is one of the darkest pages in the history of

the British Navy.

        Belcher and his men arrived back in England in October 1854, and at

about the same time as Rae, who returned from a survey of the mainland

shores of the Eastern Arctic. Rae brought back a story, derived at

second hand from a band of Eskimos, of the death of white men near the

Great Fish River, and from these Eskimos he had obtained relics which

had belonged to some of Franklin's men. "Unaccountably" indeed , Rae

had failed to investigate and ver u i fy the report as easily he might have

done, but it was evident that some at least of Franklin's men must have

014      |      Vol_XV-0119                                                                                                                  
reached the mainland, and that at a place persistently denied by the

Searching Council as likely.

        Then the storm of public indignation, which had been gather ed ing for some years

broke on the Admiralty for their fatuity in conducting the Franklin

Search, and especially in their neglect to send parties to look for

the missing men in those places where they were most likely to be

found. The Naval authorities at the Admiralty had shown confirmed

folly in the direction of the search in its latter stages. Now,

when Rae's report made that folly evident their actions became as

contemptible as hitherto they had been foolish. To avert criticism and

to allay public anger , McClure, who had been rescued by Belcher's men

and who returned to England with them, was presented to the nation

as a H h ero and the "Discoverer of the Northwest Passage." McClure was

nothing of the sort. He had acted rashly, disregarding his superior

officer and in direct disobedience of the Admiralty order enjoining

the two ships under Collinson not to part company when entering the ice .

It may be noted that Kellett was stationed at the W w estern entrance

to the Arctic when McClure arrived in the "Investigator" Investigator , and that

Kellett strongly advised Mc Clure to wait until Collinson arrived

before proceeding. Kellett, as McClure's superior officer, had the

power to order McClure to wait. He might have issued such an order

when his mere advice was not taken, but McClure did not wait to give for

Kellett a chance to do so. By the strange operation of chance it

was reserved for Kellett to rescue McClure three years later.

McClure indeed des e rves much credit for the notable explorations he

effected. He nearly circumnavigated Banks Land, his journey along

the west coast of that island being a very difficult and hazardous one .

It was a matter to be deplored that McClure showed poor judgment

in laying up his ship in Mercy Bay, instead of boldly continuing his

journey when the porospects were favorable and when there was open

015      |      Vol_XV-0120                                                                                                                  
water ahead. Had he grasped that opportunity he would have most likely

taken his ship all the way from the Pacific to the Atlantic. McClure

seems to have lost his nerve at a critical time, the strain of the

passage along the dangerous west coast of Bank's Land might well

excuse this. He had made a very fine voyage, but it was absurd

the call him "The Discoverer of the North West Passage" and to assign

the reward for doing so to him, when he had lost his ship, had been

rescued and brought to safety by passages already well known and

explored, and first discovered by Parry th ri ir ty years previously.

Other and more practical "Passages" exist, these had been discovered

and explored by various different men, Franklin and Collinson

chiefly among them. Collinson did indeed deserve special praise and

reward for making one of the most successful voyages in the history

of Arctic exploration, achieving results that dwarfed McClure's,

and it might be said, of any of his predecessors.

        The Admiralty employed the device well-known to governments and

corporations of diverting public anger from their own acts by creating

a Hero, or a Scape Goat. McClure was made the Hero, with much public

acclaim; Belcher the Scape Goat. Belcher's defence at his court

martial was so feeble that one suspects he was willing to sacrifice

himself for the repute of the Service. Collinson, who did not get back

to England until after the storm had died down, was merely ignored.

The mismanagement of the Franklin Search was forgotten amid the

more appalling official blunders of the Crimean War, and the Admiralty

made haste to wind up the whole discreditable affair. Franklin was

officially declared dead, though no proof of his death had been

established. Now that it was known where some at least of his men

had perished, and where some record of their end might be found

the Admiralty did nothing further about it, but to their lasting disgrac e

left it to Lady Franklin and her devoted aides to discover the only

016      |      Vol_XV-0121                                                                                                                  
record known, and the traces from which the tragic end of the

Franklin Expedition may be constructed.

        In later years Belcher's real merits were recognized by new

authorities at the Admiralty. His F f lag rank of Admiral was duly

attained as a matter of course and seniority. The honour of K.C.B.

with which he was decorated in 1867 was a belated recognition of merit.

He died in 1877 at the age of 78.