A relic of Sir John Franklin's last expedition 1845-8. A tin cylindar with a lid found in an abandoned boat at Erebus Bay, King William Island, in May 1859 by the McClintock Search Expedition 1857-9. A cylindrical container made of iron plate, tinned and soldered with a cap. It contains a smaller round tin lid. The number '25' is marked on a paper label inside'.
McClintock's party reached this site on the 30 May and discovered that Hobson had been there a few days before on the 18th. The boat was 28 foot long and mounted on a heavy sledge. McClintock found it just above high tide mark pointing back in the direction of the ships and containing a large quantity of abandoned personal possessions and two skeletons.
F. L. McClintock 'The voyage of the Fox in the Arctic seas' p.367 'a small tin cylinder, probably made to hold lucifer matches'. It is shown on - 'Stereoscopic slides of the relics of Sir John Franklin's Expedition' photographed by Lieut. Cheyne RN at the United Services Museum, Whitehall, No. 5. The item was formerly exhibited at the Royal Naval Museum, Greenwich, Franklin Room.

This has an original Schwatka label on it, mostly obscured by a later blue-edged Royal Naval Museum, Greenwich, label with '25' on it.