Part of a pair of wire gauze snow goggles from the 1845 Northwest Passage Expedition led by Sir John Franklin. The goggles consist of the wire gauze fitted to over the eyes to cut down glare from the snow. The gauze is circular, double thickness and turned over at the sides

It is possible that these snow goggles were recovered by the US expedition under Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka between 1878-1880. They may be the item described as 'Item 97. Wire gauze snow goggles from the graves two miles east of Pfeffer River' in the 1881 catalogue of items that he sent back to Britain in 1881 [TNA, ADM 1/6600].

Schwatka purchased them from an Inuit camped at Thunder Cove on Adelaide Peninsula on 4 June 1879. Gilder recorded 'On the evening of the 4th of June we met a young man, named Adlekok, who, during the previous summer, had found a new cairn erected by white men near Pfeffer River... Near by were three graves and a tent place in which he found a pair of wire-gauze snow-goggles, which we purchased from him' [Gilder, page 108].

The snow goggles were displayed in the Royal Naval Museum, Greenwich,in 'Case 3, No. 30. Wire gauze for snow goggles'. They were also in Display 14 at the Royal Naval Exhibition at Chelsea in 1891.