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...

The disappearance of Sir John Franklin's Arctic expedition of 1845 led to many rescue attempts, some by the British government, and some by private individuals. This short 1860 account of Franklin's life and of the search for him was written by the experienced naval officer Sherard Osborn (several of whose other works have been reissued in this series) with a view to inspiring the youth of Britain to follow the great explorer's example of duty and rectitude. Osborn (1822-75) had begun his naval career in the Far East, but was a pioneering commander of steam-powered ships, and his performance...

In 1860, naval officer Sherard Osborn (1822-75), a veteran of both Opium Wars, published this collection of remarks and predictions on Chinese affairs in relation to British imperial interests. Osborn writes in forthright style of his time in the East and his negative experiences of Chinese diplomacy to support his view that 'the European has ever to use force rather than argument to obtain his ends in China, be they however moderate, however just'. He also sets out some advice on how to prevent British smugglers from taking advantage of the Chinese. A number of Osborn's other publications...