"This is to certify that Captain Ommanney, with the Officers of Her Majesty's ships Assistance and Intrepid, landed at Cape Riley, on the 23rd of August, 1850, where he found traces of an encampment, and collected the remains of materials, which evidently prove that some party belonging to Her Majesty's ships have been detained on this spot; Beechey Island was also examined, where traces were found of the same party.

"This is also to give notice that a supply of provisions and fuel is at Port Leopold. Her Majesty's ships Assistance and Intrepid were detached from the squadron under Captain Austin, off Wolstenholme, on the 15th instant, since when they have examined the north shores of Lancaster Sound and Barrow's Straits, without meeting with any other traces. Captain Ommanney proceeds to Cape Hotham and Cape Walker in search for further traces of Sir John Franklin's Expedition.

"Dated on board Her Majesty's ship Assistance, off Cape Riley, 23rd August, 1850.

"(Signed) ERASMUS OMMANNEY." Captain Forsyth landed on Cape Riley on the 24th August (the day after Captain Ommanney quitted it), and found the paper in a cairn, and adds his confirmatory evidence: "We observed five places where tents had been pitched, or stones placed, as if they had been used for keeping the lower part of the tents down; also great quantities of beef, pork, and birds' bones, a piece of rope with the Woolwich naval mark in it (yellow)." Other vessels were immediately dispatched to the spot, and the evidence carefully collected and transmitted to England.

This is the only evidence which has yet been obtained of the existence of Franklin since he was

seen on the 26th July, 1845. The question is, are they relics of his party?

Captain Beechy landed on Cape Riley on the 22nd August, 1819; but a breeze sprung up almost as soon as they had landed, and they His immediately re-embarked. journal affords conclusive evidence that these marks were not left by him. The bones and rope could not have been carried by the Esquimaux from the wreck of the Fury (1825), for the peculiar mark was not introduced into the rope manufactured in the Royal Dockyards until after Parry's Expedition had sailed. They could not be traces of Captain Ross's parties, for it is shown that none of them approached Cape Riley within 30

miles.

A very minute and careful report on the substances found at Cape Riley was made by Sir John Richardson, of which the following are the chief points:

Five pieces of bones were examined and found to be those of beef, pork, and sheep; they were sawn and notched, and were precisely such as would come from the provision casks supplied by the Victualling Department to Her Majesty's ships. They were evidently not more than a few years old, having lost little of their original weight, and indurated animal matter, fat, and marrow could be seen with the microscope in their structure. Sir J. Richardson concludes that they could not have been exposed more than four or five years; while, on the other hand, from their being somewhat worn down by attrition and the action of the elements, he infers that they could not have been exposed less than that period. Other portions of

bones, being those of the walrus, reindeer, and seal, were found on the Cape; these were quite divested of all animal matter, were much worn, and could not have been deposited more recently than half a century. None of these bones had the marks of teeth, which is conclusive proof that they had never been seen by the Esquimaux or their dogs.

The other articles picked up were, a piece of one inch and a half rope having an eye spliced in at each end, bleached on the surface, but so fresh within that in some places sufficient tar remained to soil the finger; a piece of canvas having the Queen's mark, apparently a part of a boat's swab; a chip of drift timber, the surface of a knot, which had been exposed for many years to the action of the atmosphere; but subsequent to this exposure, cut from the log by an iron axe, not a stone hatchet.

The five circles of stones were of larger diameter than the circles of the tents used in our expeditions; but this is ingeniously accounted for by the supposition that when the tents were struck, the stones were removed outwards, which would materially enlarge the

circle.

The captain superintendent of Woolwich Dockyard reports upon the rope decisively:-1. The first supply of yellow worsted for marking rope was not received before the 11th June, 1824 (after Parry's Expedition in the Hecla and Fury had sailed), and none was issued to the ropery for use until the 14th. 2. There is very strong ground for saying that the rope in question was not manufactured until after 1841 it is of Hungarian hemp in the opinion of the store-keepers

and master rope-maker, none of which was received into the yard prior to 1841.

In the opinion of Captain Parry and Colonel Sabine, the stone circles mark precisely such an occupation as would be necessary for scientific observations. For these purposes five tents would be required; viz., three for the magnetical instruments, each of which requires a separate tent, one for the other instruments, and one for the party. There were observed in the centre of the circles large stones as if for fireplaces, but no marks of fire on them; these were just such stones and in such positions as would be used for stands for the instruments or for steadying them.

Cape Riley is precisely the locality which Sir John Franklin would have chosen for making observations before plunging into the unknown regions of the Polar Sea. It is at the north-western point of Barrow's Strait, at the entrance to Wellington Strait, which it was a point of Franklin's instructions to explore; and there seems to be very little reason to doubt that these remains were really traces of his Expedition.

Yet it seems

strange that so experienced an officer left no memorandum of his visit and no depôt of provisions to retreat upon in case of necessity; both of which it is customary for the commanders of such adventures to do.

On finding these interesting relics, Captain Ommanney pushed on, endeavouring to trace up the track thus opened to him. The other ships, on receiving the intelligence, hastened to the same quarter, and commenced a diligent and minute search.

Thus, then, at this late period some traces of our unfortunate officers have been discovered, and some hopes raised that our exertions will not have been in vain.

To recapitulate the present condition of the exploring parties as they were left by the last intelligence the Plover is now in winter quarters in Grantley Harbour, Kotzebue Sound, awaiting the return of the summer of 1851, to resume her search beyond Cape Barrow and the lands north of the north-west coast of America, in which she will be assisted by the Herald, and the Enterprise and Investigator. Dr. Rae and Commander Pullen will, in the same season, descend the Mackenzie, and explore Banks's and Victoria

Lands, and Parry's and Melville Islands, and the seas and coasts westward of the Boothia Peninsula. Captains Austin and Ommanney, with their squadron of the Queen's ships, the private ships, and the American squadron, will penetrate through Barrow's Strait, and Wellington Strait, and minutely examine all the shores, islands, and channels into which that icy region is broken up. We may rest assured that nothing that individual zeal and public duty can perform will be left undone to restore our lost navigators to their country-all that national honour and private sacrifice can suggest has been cheerfully afforded to the sacred task. May God prosper the issue!

HE promotion of Trade and MaTnufactures by means of collec

tions of works of industry and art, is not entitled to the merit of novelty. In modern times, however, the idea has been worked out with more of system and purpose, and was probably suggested by the wide effects produced by two causes of the same nature, but which had no intentional bearing upon that subject, viz. the galleries of beautiful or rare products of art or nature collected by the wealthy and educated with the object of gratifying the eye and correcting the taste; and from the exposure for sale and commerce of beautiful or useful articles in the stores of individuals, or more particularly at the great fairs or bazaars, which in former times were the chief features of commercial enterprise. These two circumstances operated powerfully upon each other, and while the wares of the manufacturer derived a higher tone of beauty and refinement from the exquisite forms colours presented in the galleries of the noble, the latter received fresh accessions of artistic productions from the merchant, and demanded from the artizans articles of higher intellect and more cultivated taste.

or

The beneficial effect thus casually derived from the exposure of the works of art and skill could not escape the observation of reflecting observers. In England this knowledge was brought to prac

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tical purposes about a century ago, when (viz. in 1756-7) the Society of Arts not only offered prizes for specimens of manufactures-as carpets, tapestry, porcelain, &c., but exhibited the works offered for competition: this being also about the time that the Royal Academy had organized its exhibition of painting, sculpture, and engraving. In France these expositions have been adopted with marked success, being systematically pursued under the guidance of a Minister specially presiding over the Department of Commerce and Industry; and that of 1844 was so singularly successful as to suggest the expediency of reviving the custom in England. The Society of Arts, the first to originate, was first in resuming the design; and in 1847 their Council organized a limited exhibition of manufactures, which were placed on view in their rooms. The exhibition attracted marked attention; and in 1848 another Exhibition of the Works of Art and Manufacture was thrown open to the public, in which the beautiful specimens of pottery, porcelain, and glass, the products of our modern manufacturers, placed in contrast with the coarse uncouth vessels used by our forefathers even down to recent times, impressed the spectator at a glance with the astonishing improvements which had been made, especially in articles of general utility: while again, many exquisite examples of Faenza ware, Sêvres, and Dresden

china and other valuable articles (lent freely, be it honourably recorded, by their wealthy owners), suggested how much remained to be done. Another exhibition followed, which consisted in chief part of works in the precious metals, in which the most glorious specimens of medieval and sixteenth century art and the clumsy articles of every-day life were placed beside the choicest efforts of modern artists and the cheap and well adapted productions of our manufacturers. The Queen placed in this display the two far-famed works of Benvenuto Cellini, the Nautilus Cup and the Shield of Achilles. It must be remarked, that hitherto these exhibitions had been confined, both in England and France, to local or national productions, with rare examples of art in the possession of private collectors, and with purposes exclusively local or national.

His Royal Highness Prince Albert, being President of the Society of Arts, had taken great interest in these beautiful exhibitions, and had been mainly instrumental in carrying them into operation. To His Royal Highness is due the comprehensive idea of gathering together in one place the best examples of contemporary art and skill, of the natural productions of every soil and clime, of whatever nature, and of every degree; and as the collection was to include the whole world, so the benefits were to be open to the people of every nation and of every class; it should be a friendly rivalry of nations in the arts of peace, and strengthen the bonds of universal society by a physical perception of the means by which mankind might be knit together, by inculcating a practical sense of mutual interest and geVOL. XCII.

neral advantage. In order further to attain that this design should be of and for all nations, and nothing national, it was resolved, in a wide spirit of reliance on the universality of the good to be worked out, that governmental assistance should be avoided; the people were appealed to to supply the funds, and it was made known (and the resolution proved as wise as it was confident) that the support of foreign people would be expected. It was also made known that prizes to the extent of 20,000l. would be awarded to the most meritorious exhibitors. The design was accepted with the general approbation it so well deserved. The people of England embraced the proposal as individuals and as communities. A Royal Commission was appointed to manage the undertaking, local committees were formed in most provincial towns, and a spirit of unity was obtained by an admirable organization:the Lord Mayor of London, as the chief magistrate of the greatest commercial and manufacturing city in the world, invited the chief magistrates of all the cities and boroughs in the United Kingdom to a splendid banquet-Prince Albert and the Ambassadors representing all the states of Europe and America being also guests--at which the great design may be said, in a popular phrase of the day, to have been "inaugurated." If the project was received in England with favour, it created "a sensation" on the Continent. The manufacturers of the foreign countries made eager preparations for exhibiting the best productions of their workshops, and to enter upon the competition in their greatest strength. Commissions were appointed in most foreign 2 H