x v i IN T R O D U C T IO N .
season to his former winter quarters, he will, in the above-mentioned
meridian, erect a signal, and bury a bottle containing the information of
liis having done so for Captain Beechey’s guidance.
(Signed)
‘ Wookeich, lOiA F eb ru a ry , 1825.’
“ JO H N F R A N K L IN , Captain.
F . W . B E E C H E Y , Commander, His
Majesty ’s Sloop Blossom.
After the receipt of these instructions, I took an early opportunity
of communicating to the officers under my command the sentiments
of their lordships, contained in the twelfth paragraph. How satisfactorily
these expectations were fulfilled, must appear from the manner
m which their lordships have marked their approbation of their conduct.
As commander of the expedition, however, I am happy o f an
opportunity of again bearing testimony to their diligence, and of expressing
my thanks for the assistance I derived during the voyage from
their exertions. They are especially due to my first lieutenant, Mr.
Peard, upon whom much additional duty devolved, in consequence of
my attention being in some measure devoted to other objects of the
expedition: to Lieutenant Belcher and Mr. Elson, the master, for their
indefatigable attention to the minor branches of surveving; and to
the former, again, for his assistance in geological researches: to l i e u tenant
Wainwright, for his astronomical observations: to Mr. Collie,
for his unremitting attention to natural history, metereology, and geo-
logy: to Mr. James Wolfe, for his attendance at the observatory and
the construction of charts: and, lastly, to Messrs. Smyth and Bichard
Beechey, for the devotion of their leisure time to drawing.
On the return of the expedition to England, the journals and
papers of the officers were placed in my hands by the Admiralty,
with directions to publish an account of the voyage. I found those of
Messrs. Collie and Belcher to contain much useful information on the
above-mentioned branches of science, and in other respects I have derived
much assistance from their remarks, and also from those in the
journals of Messrs. Evans, Smyth, and Beechey. I have in general
IN T R O D U C T IO N . x , , ; ;
noticed these obligations in the course of my narrative; but as this could
not always be done without inconvenience to the reader, I take this
opportunity of more fully expressing ray acknowledgments.
In the compilation I have endeavoured to combine information
useful to the philosopher with remarks that I trust may prove advantageous
to the seaman, and to convey to the general reader the impressions
produced upon my mind at the moment of each occurrence.
How far 1 have succeeded in acquitting myself of the task my duty
compelled me to undertake, I must leave to the public to decide, and
shall conclude with expressing a hope that my very early entry into the
service may be taken in extenuation of any faults they may discover.
The collections of botanical and other specimens of natural history
have been reserved for separate volumes, being far too numerous to
form part of an appendix to the present narrative. His Majesty’s government
having liberally appropriated a sum of money to their publication,
I hope, with the assistance of several eminent gentlemen, rvho
have kindly and generously offered to describe them, shortly to be able to
present them to the public, illustrated by engravings by the first artists.
The botany, of which the first number has already been published, is
in the hands of Dr. Hooker, professor of Botany, at Glasgow, who in
addition to having devoted the whole of his time to our collection,
has borne with the numerous difficulties and disappointments which
have attended the progress of the publication of this branch of natural
history, and my thanks on this account are the more especially due to
him in particular. The department which he has so kindly undertaken
will extend to ten numbers 4 to .; making, in the whole, about 500 pages,
and 100 plates ol plants, wholly new, or such as have been hitherto
imperfectly described.
The other branches of natural history are under the care of Messrs.
N. A. Vigors, Edward Bennett, J. E. Gray, Richard Owen, Dr. Richardson,
R. N., and Mr. T. Lay, the naturalist to the expedition, and the
geology of Professor Buckland and Captain Belcher, E. N . ; to all of
whom I must express my warmest thanks, for their cordial assistance,
and for the ready and handsome manner in which they have taken