Baffin Bay to Lancaster Sound, a
distance of two hundred and twenty miles. In these waters are found
the great floes of ice which Davis had first seen, called by Arctic
explorers the 'middle ice.' The _Erebus_ and the _Terror_ spent a
fortnight in attempting to make the passage across, and here they were
seen for the last time at sea. A whaling ship, the _Prince of Wales_,
sighted the two vessels on July 26. A party of Franklin's officers
rowed over to the ship and carried an invitation to the master to dine
with Sir John on the next day. But the boat had hardly returned when a
fine breeze sprang up, and with a clear sea ahead the _Erebus_ and the
_Terror_ were put on their course to the west without even taking time
to forward letters to England.

Thus the two ships vanished into the Arctic ice, never to be seen of
Englishmen again. The summer of 1845 passed; no news came: the winter
came and passed away; the spring and summer of 1846, and still no
message. England, absorbed in political struggles at home--the Corn
Law Repeal and the vexed question of Ireland--had still no anxiety over
Franklin. No message could have come except {118} by the chance of a
whaling ship or in some roundabout way through the territories of the
Hudson's Bay Company, after all but a slender chance. The summer of
1846 came and went and then another winter, and now with the opening of
the new year, 1847, the first expression of apprehension began to be
heard. It was remembered how deeply laden the ships had been. The
fear arose that perhaps they had foundered with all hands in the open
waters of Baffin Bay, leaving no trace behind. Even the naval men
began to shake their heads. Captain Sir John Ross wrote to the
Admiralty to express his fear that Franklin's ships had been frozen in
in such a way that their return was impossible. The Admiralty took
advice. The question was gravely discussed with the leading Arctic
seamen of the day. It was decided that until two years had elapsed
from the time of departure (May 1845 to May 1847) no measures need be
taken for the relief of the _Erebus_ and the _Terror_. The date came
and passed. Anxiety was deepening. The Admiralty decided to act.
Great stores of pemmican, some eight tons, together with suitable boats
and experienced crews, were sent in June 1847 to Hudson Bay, ready for
an expedition along the northern coast. A ship {119} was sent with
supplies to meet Franklin in Bering Stra