Relics of the Franklin Expedition discovered by Dr John Rae

This engraving, pasted into a scrapbook in the Gell family archive, accompanied an article about the relics recovered by Dr. John Rae on his search for the Franklin Expedition. Rae acquired the objects from Inuit hunters on the north shore of King William's Land in the Canadian Arctic.

Following Rae's discovery, the Admiralty pronounced the crew of the expedition dead. Rae's report that the Inuit had seen signs of cannibalism on the bodies of the crew was fiercely rejected by Lady Jane Franklin, who encouraged Charles Dickens to write an article to repudiate this idea in his magazine, 'Household Words'.

The relics are now at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, London.