CHAPTER XXIV.

THE LAST TRACES. M’Clintock’s Summer Explorations—The Second Winter—Sledging 223 Parties—Snow Huts—Near the Magnetic Pole—Meeting with Esquimaux—Franklin Relics Obtained—Objection of Esquimaux to Speak of the Dead—Hobson’s Discovery of the Franklin Records—Fate of the _Erebus_ and _Terror_—Large Quantity of Relics Purchased from the Natives—The Skeleton on the Beach—Fate of Crozier’s Party—“As they Fell they Died”—The Record at Point Victory—Boat with Human Remains Discovered—The Wrecks never Seen—Return of the _Fox_