Told from the perspective of an explorer who died, about the doomed Franklin Expedition (info below from a couple of websites about it)
The Erebus and the Terror set sail from Greenhithe, England, on May 19, 1845. On board were Sir John Franklin, a crew of 129 men, and three years' provisions.
Franklin's plan was to find the Northwest Passage, a northern sea route to Asia that had eluded European explorers for hundreds of years. He was never heard from again.
When Franklin failed to report back, search expeditions were launched. The search for the remains of the voyage has continued to the present day.
Over the years, artifacts, records, and bodies were recovered, offering clues as to what happened to Franklin and his men.
The evidence indicates that Franklin died during the journey and the ships became hopelessly trapped in the ice. The expedition's second-in-command, Francis Crozier, abandoned the vessels, then led 105 men on a cold, deadly march southward.
But no traces of the Erebus and the Terror have ever been found.
The answer to the mystery, a doctor on one of the search trips surmised, might be found by examining the bodies of three crew members that were found; Torrington, Hartnell, and Braine to look for clues to the cause of their deaths. But his idea struck authorities as improper, and it was ignored.
The bodies that were found remained frozen in the ice for over one hundred years, untouched.
Finally, in 1980, anthropologist Owen Beattie decided to study the remains of the three men to "look for information on health and diet, for indications of disease, for evidence of violence, and information as to each individual's age and stature." Beattie was going to solve the mystery — even if it meant examining three frozen mummies.
Great lyrics relating to a real historic event.
Told from the perspective of an explorer who died, about the doomed Franklin Expedition (info below from a couple of websites about it)
The Erebus and the Terror set sail from Greenhithe, England, on May 19, 1845. On board were Sir John Franklin, a crew of 129 men, and three years' provisions.
Franklin's plan was to find the Northwest Passage, a northern sea route to Asia that had eluded European explorers for hundreds of years. He was never heard from again.
When Franklin failed to report back, search expeditions were launched. The search for the remains of the voyage has continued to the present day.
Over the years, artifacts, records, and bodies were recovered, offering clues as to what happened to Franklin and his men.
The evidence indicates that Franklin died during the journey and the ships became hopelessly trapped in the ice. The expedition's second-in-command, Francis Crozier, abandoned the vessels, then led 105 men on a cold, deadly march southward.
But no traces of the Erebus and the Terror have ever been found.
The answer to the mystery, a doctor on one of the search trips surmised, might be found by examining the bodies of three crew members that were found; Torrington, Hartnell, and Braine to look for clues to the cause of their deaths. But his idea struck authorities as improper, and it was ignored.
The bodies that were found remained frozen in the ice for over one hundred years, untouched.
Finally, in 1980, anthropologist Owen Beattie decided to study the remains of the three men to "look for information on health and diet, for indications of disease, for evidence of violence, and information as to each individual's age and stature." Beattie was going to solve the mystery — even if it meant examining three frozen mummies.