Franklin's Footsteps

Clement Robert Markham (1830–1916) was a geographer who took part in one of the many Arctic expeditions launched to search for missing explorer John Franklin (1786–1847). This account, published in 1853, was written in response to criticism of the expedition. They had found some evidence of Franklin's route - he had set off in May 1845 to find the North-West Passage - but returned to Britain without any of the survivors. Markham gives a brief history of Arctic exploration, but the majority of the book recounts the expedition's efforts to find Franklin. The crew endured a harsh winter and sailed in iceberg-laden waters along the coast of Greenland, looking for clues of Franklin's whereabouts. They also spent some time exploring the Parry Islands (the present-day Queen Elizabeth Islands). Markham's account of the rescue mission provides insight into the little-known and often dangerous world of Arctic explorers.