Category Social Sciences

               The British ‘North-West Passage Expedition’ of 1845 was proposed by the Admiralty in February. The two ships allocated to the expedition, the HMS Erebus and the HMS Terror, left England on 19th May 1845. The expedition wintered at Beechey Island, and then they sailed southwards along the western side of Cornwallis Island.

               Later, they continued to the Victoria Strait, where three young sailors died. Initially it was thought that the sailors died of extreme weather conditions, but later it was discovered that they died of lead poisoning from canned food. The young sailors were buried on the King William Island.

              The expedition gradually started meeting a terrible fate. The ice did not melt in the spring; they were trapped in the ice for 18 months. They ran out of food and supplies. John Franklin died in June 1847. The ice bound ships were abandoned and the entire crew perished from starvation, hypothermia, tuberculosis, lead poisoning and scurvy.

               The dreadful fate of Sir John Franklin and his crew prevented any further exploration to the north for many years. 

            Sir John Franklin was a naval officer and Arctic explorer. He was born on 16th April 1786 in Spilsby, England. Franklin entered the Royal Navy at the age of fourteen.

            In 1821, Franklin was ordered to chart the northern shoreline of Canada. It became the first expedition to map large sections of the Arctic seaboard.

            He led another expedition in 1825. The expedition took two routes from Mackenzie Delta. One ventured east to map as far as the Coppermine River while Franklin led the other west toward Alaska.

            He is best known for leading his third, the tragic 1845 expedition, to find the North-West Passage. It was in the year 1844 British Admiralty planned an expedition to the North-West Passage. Although Franklin was in his late fifties, he campaigned hard to lead the expedition. The Admiralty gave him command in February 1845. It is said to be the most technologically advanced polar expedition at that time.

            This expedition is remembered in history as one of the most tragic expeditions ever. All the sailors perished on that voyage, including Sir John Franklin despite being close to discovering the elusive sea route through the Canadian north. 

               The mapping of the world was almost finished before 1800. Almost every nook and corner of the world had been discovered and charted, except for some of the most inhospitable parts of the world.

               In the 18th and 19th centuries, both the British and Dutch remained curious about the North-West Passage. They tried to find out the lands across the North-West Passage. In 1741, Christopher Middleton attempted to find the Passage with two ships, but the expedition was a failure.

               In 1773, under the leadership of Horatio Nelson, a British, an expedition reached much nearer to North Pole.

               In the 18th century, the last serious attempt was James Cook’s abortive expedition of 1778 when he successfully passed through the Bering Straits. Unfortunately, he had to reroute due to sea ice.

               Throughout the 19th century, polar exploration dominated popular culture in Europe and America. The major goals of the 19th century exploration were the discovery of the North-West Passage connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans via a northern route and reaching the North Pole. 

               The flora and fauna of the Galapagos Island gave Darwin crucial information about the evolution of life.

               The Galapagos Island was home to an amazing array of animal species. The Galapagos Island had a special kind of tortoise, which came to be known as the giant tortoise. Interestingly, the appearance of these tortoises varied from island to island. Darwin observed that the tortoises living on more arid islands had to stretch their necks to reach branches of cactus and other vegetation. Consequently, they had longer necks, and a high peak to the front edges of their shells.

               Then he studied finches, a type of birds, known for their remarkable diversity in beak form and function. The food supplies differed on each island, and the beaks of the finches were adapted to the islands on which they lived. These were the key pieces of information that helped Darwin to formulate his theory of adaptation.

               On his return journey, Darwin started to write ‘The Origin of Species’. It introduced the scientific theory that populations evolve over the course of generations through a process of natural selection.

               During the first two years of the expedition, Darwin collected several fossil mammals from Argentina and Uruguay. It was in the cliffs near Punta Alta, that Darwin recovered his first fossil bones. It was of a large extinct mammal. He sent all the specimens to his mentor, John Stevens Henslow.

               A fossil tooth helped Darwin to identify the little-known Megatherium. Megatherium was a genus of elephant-sized ground sloths, endemic to South America. These findings later helped Darwin in formulating the theories about evolution of life.

               Darwin was interested in geology too and he studied volcanic rock formations intently. He was surprised to find the fossils of sea creatures at high altitudes, or thousands of metres above sea level. This led to his exploring further into the realities of natural disaster.

               During this voyage Darwin was witness to a severe earthquake in Chile on 20th February, 1835 which was claimed to be the largest earthquake ever recorded in Chile. Thus the voyage was eventful as well as significant. 

               The British admiralty decided to chart the islands around Cape Horn. Captain Robert FitzRoy was ordered to command the voyage. Charles Darwin was offered the chance to join Robert FitzRoy.

               The fleet set sail from Plymouth in Southern England, with a crew of 73, on 27th December 1831 on HMS Beagle. As the ship’s naturalist, he thoroughly enjoyed every occasion for exploration. He studied natural history, and discovered many new life forms.

               As the ship proceeded to Tierra del Fuego, the main object of the expedition commenced- charting of the islands around Cape Horn. The expedition rounded the Cape Horn to discover a new passage, which was later named ‘Beagle Passage’. It was a picturesque long straight channel that offered an alternative, but slower route from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

               Darwin explored the glorious mountainous region around the passage. Interestingly, he never thought that he would make iconic scientific discoveries during the voyage.

               Interestingly, Darwin became seriously ill on the way, as he suffered from seasickness.