Sir John Franklin has embarked on his…

Sir John Franklin has embarked on his third Arctic exploration in search of the Northwest Passage.

At the Whalefish Islands in Disko Bay, on the west coast of Greenland, ten oxen carried by the transport ship had been slaughtered for fresh meat; supplies had been transferred to Erebus and Terror, and crew members wrote their last letters home.

Letters written on board told how Franklin banned swearing and drunkenness.

Before the expedition's final departure, five men had been discharged and sent home on Rattler and Barretto Junior, reducing the ships' final crew size to one hundred and twenty-nine.