Description Captains of whaling vessels were experienced navigators of northern waters, and William Penny was in the vanguard of the whaling fraternity.
Gillies Ross is professor emeritus of geography at Bishop\'s University..
About the Author W.
Using primary sources, notably private journals from each of the expeditions, Hunters on the Track places him at the forefront of a critical chapter of maritime history and the geographical exploration that began after Franklin disappeared.
William Penny is respected as one of the most influential and innovative figures in British Arctic whaling history, but his brief role in the Franklin expedition is less known.
Reconstructing events, relationships, and decisions, he focuses on the work of Penny as commander of HMS Lady Franklin and Sophia, while also outlining the events of other expeditions and interactions among the officers and crews.
Ross details the particularities of each Search at a time when no fewer than eight ships comprising four Search expeditions were attempting to find Franklin\'s tracks.
He reconstructs the brief but frenetic period when the English-speaking world was preoccupied with locating Franklin, but when the means of that Search - the ships chosen, the route taken, the evidence of Franklin\'s traces - were contested and uncertain.
Gillies Ross provides an in-depth history of the first Franklin searches.
Bookended by an account of Penny\'s whaling career, including the rediscovery of Cumberland Sound, which would play a vital role in British whaling a decade later, W.
Hunters on the Track describes and analyzes the efforts made by the Scottish whaling master to locate Franklin\'s missing expedition.
Leading the first maritime expedition in Search of Sir John Franklin, he stood out not just for his skill as a sailor but for his curiosity about northern geography and his willingness to seek out Inuit testimony to map uncharted territory.
Description Captains of whaling vessels were experienced navigators of northern waters, and William Penny was in the vanguard of the whaling fraternity
