Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

By the middle of the nineteenth century, the North-West Passage, a trade route from the Atlantic to the Pacific, had been sought for centuries without success. The Franklin expedition of 1845 became the latest victim, and Irish naval officer Sir Robert John Le Mesurier McClure (1807-73) took part in the attempts to ascertain its fate. His ship, H.M.S. Investigator, spent the years 1850-4 in the Arctic, and in the course of their search for the lost expedition, the crew discovered the North-West Passage. Upon his return to England, following the loss of the Investigator to pack ice, McClure handed over his journals to author and fellow officer Sherard Osborn (1822-75), who prepared this narrative of the pioneering expedition. First published in 1856, the work remains a compelling account of Arctic exploration, revealing how McClure and his men survived four forbidding winters.

Northwest Passage --- Investigator (Ship) --- History --- Transportation

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

The H.M.S. Investigator spent the years 1850-4 in the Western Arctic engaged in a search for the lost expedition of the explorer Sir John Franklin. In this 1857 publication Alexander Armstrong (1818-99), surgeon and naturalist to the ship, gives a first-hand account of life on board during the voyage, as testimony to the 'heroism, devotion, and endurance' of his shipmates. He describes the harsh conditions that the crew had to endure, and argues convincingly that no travel 'more thoroughly tests man's powers of endurance, both morally and physically' than travelling in the Arctic. He also notes that lemon juice proved the most effective remedy against scurvy. Armstrong's natural history research was cut short when the ship was abandoned and his collections left behind, but he includes an appendix listing the animals and birds observed on the voyage, and the Arctic plants collected by a friend and colleague.

Armstrong, Alexander, --- Travel --- Investigator (Ship) --- Northwest Passage --- Canada, Northern --- Arctic regions --- Discovery and exploration. --- Armstrong, Alex. --- Arctic, Canadian --- Canadian Arctic --- Northern Canada