Franklin Expedition relics. 19th-century illustration of relics from the 1845 expedition led by British naval captain Sir John Franklin to find the Northwest Passage, a sea-route between Canada and the Arctic that links the Atlantic to the Pacific. The ships were trapped in sea ice and all members of the expedition perished. Scottish explorer John Rae (1813-1893), part of a failed 1848 effort to find the expedition, continued to explore the area and obtained the relics in 1854. Items included a compass, a chronometer case, a silver item engraved 'Sir John Franklin, K.C.H.', and Franklin's medal of a Knight of the Royal Guelphic Order. Artwork published in 1855.