Fragment of timber inscribed: 'Rudder Alert 1827'. 'Alert' was a boat used on John Franklin's Second Overland Expedition. It was one of three specially designed boats built at Woolwich dockyard. They were intended to be light enough to be used on Canadian Rivers with rapids and also strong enough to resist the waves and ice of the Arctic Ocean. They were double-ended and could be steered with either a rudder or an oar. the frames were ash and the hulls were partially constructed of mahogany. Eleanor Franklin described them as: 'varnished and adorned with blue and gold, and painted with all sorts of mythological devices.' They could carry an officer, crew and two or three tons of cargo.