After obtaining an observation for latitude, we embarked, and continued

our course along the coast until we came to the extremity of a cape,

which was formed by an island separated from the main by a shallow

channel. The cliffs of this island were about forty feet high, and the

snow which had accumulated under them in the winter, was not yet

dissolved, but, owing to the infiltration and freezing of water, now

formed an inclined bank of ice, nearly two-thirds of the height of the

cliff. This bank, or iceberg, being undermined by the action of the

waves, maintained its position only by its adhesion to the frozen cliffs

behind it. In some places large masses had broken off and floated away,

whilst in others the currents of melting snow floating from the flat

land above, had covered the ice with a thick coating of earth; so that

at first sight it appeared as if the bank had broken down; the real

structure of the iceberg being perceptible only where rents existed. In

a similar manner the frozen banks, or icebergs, covered with earth,

mentioned by Lieutenant Kotzebue, in his voyage to Behring Straits,

might have been formed. Had the whole mass of frozen snow broken off

from this bank, an iceberg would have been produced thirty feet wide at

its base, and covered on one side to the depth of a foot, or more, with

black earth. The island was composed of sand and slaty clay, into which

the thaw had not penetrated above a foot. The ravines were lined with

fragments of compact white limestone, and a few dwarf-birches and

willows grew on their sides. The sun's rays were very powerful this day,

and the heat was oppressive, even while sitting at rest in the boat; the

temperature of the air at noon being, in the shade, 62 degrees, and that

of the surface water, where the soundings were three fathoms, 55

degrees.

Immediately after rounding the cape, which was named after His

Excellency Sir Peregrine Maitland, Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada,

we entered a channel ten miles wide, running to the eastward, with an

open horizon in that direction; and a doubt arose as to whether it was a

strait, or merely a bay. Many large masses of ice were floating in it,

which proved to us that it had considerable depth; but the water being

only brackish, excited a suspicion that there was no passage through it.

While we were hesitating whether to hazard a loss of time by exploring

the opening, or to cross over at once to the northern land, several deer

were seen, and the hope of procuring a supply of fresh meat, induced us

to put ashore and encamp for the night, that the hunters might go in

chase. The beach here was strewed with fragments of dark-red sandstone,

white sandstone, white compact limestone, and a few pieces of syenite.

There were many large trunks of spruce-firs lying on the sand,

completely denuded of their bark and branches; and numerous exuviae of a

marine crustaceous animal (_gammarus borealis_) lay at high water mark.

Our hunters were successful, Ooligbuck and M'Leay each killing a deer.

Many of these animals had fled to the cool moist sands on the coast, but

even there the musquitoes tormented them so much as to render them

regardless of the approach of the hunters. The latitude of our

encampment was 70 degrees 7 minutes, longitude 127 degrees 45 minutes;

and the length of the day's voyage twenty-three miles. The temperature

varied from 52 degrees to 63 degrees. By watching the motion of the tide

for the greater part of the night, I fully satisfied myself that the ebb

set out of the opening, and that the flood came round the land on the

north side; hence I concluded that there could be no passage to the

eastward in this direction, and that the opening led into a bay, to

which the name of Harrowby was given, in honour of the Right Honourable

the Earl of Harrowby.

[Sidenote: Tuesday, 18th.] Embarking on the 18th at three in the

morning, we set the sails to a favourable though light breeze, and using

the oars at the same time, crossed Harrowby Bay, at its mouth. During

the traverse, land was seen round the bottom of the bay. On nearing the

shore we distinguished twelve Esquimaux tents on an eminence; and a

woman who was walking on the beach gave the alarm, but not until we were

near enough to speak to her, her surprise having fixed her to the spot

for a time. The men then rushed out, brandishing their knives, and,

using the most threatening expressions, forbade us to land, and desired

us to return by the way we came. Ooligbuck endeavoured to calm their

fears, by telling them that we were friends, but they replied only by

repeating their threats, and by hideous grimaces and gestures, which

displayed great agility; frequently standing on one foot and throwing

the other nearly as high as the head. At length on my bawling

"_noowoerlawgo_," (I wish to barter,) they became quiet at once, and one

of them running to his kaiyack, and paddling off to us, was followed by

many of the others, even before they could witness the reception we gave

him. They came boldly alongside, and exchanged their spears, arrows,

bows, and some pieces of well-dressed seal-skin, for bits of old

iron-hoop, files and beads. They were not so well furnished with

iron-work as the Esquimaux we had seen further to the westward, and very

eagerly received a supply from us. In our intercourse with them we

experienced much advantage from a simple contrivance suggested by Mr.

Kendall, and constructed during our halt in Refuge Cove: it was a

barricade formed by raising the masts and spare oars eighteen inches

above the gunwale on two crutches or davits, which not only prevented

our Esquimaux visitors from stealing out of the boats, but, in the event

of a quarrel, could have been rendered arrow proof by throwing the

blankets or sails over it. On a light breeze springing up we set the

sails, and continuing to ply the oars, advanced at the rate of four

miles an hour, attended by eleven kaiyacks. Three oomiaks with the

women followed us, and we found that, when rowed by two women, and

steered by a third, they surpassed our boats in speed.

The females, unlike those of the Indian tribes, had much handsomer

features than the men; and one young woman of the party would have been

deemed pretty even in Europe. Our presents seemed to render them

perfectly happy, and they danced with such ecstasy in their slender

boats as to incur, more than once, great hazard of being overset. A

bundle of strings of beads being thrown into an oomiak, it was caught by

an old woman, who hugged the treasure to her breast with the strongest

expression of rapture, while another elderly dame, who had stretched out

her arms in vain, became the very picture of despair. On my explaining,

however that the present was for the whole, an amicable division

instantly took place; and to show their gratitude, they sang a song to a

pleasing air, keeping time with their oars. They gave us many pressing

invitations to pass the night at their tents, in which they were joined

by the men; and to excite our liberality the mothers drew their children

out of their wide hoods, where they are accustomed to carry them naked,

and holding them up begged beads for them. Their entreaties were, for a

time, successful; but being desirous of getting clear of our visitors

before breakfast-time, we at length told them that our stock was

exhausted, and they took leave.

These Esquimaux were as inquisitive as the others we had seen respecting

our names, and were very desirous of teaching us the true pronunciation

of theirs. They informed us that they had seen Indians, and had heard of

white people, but had never seen any before. My giving a little deer's

meat to one of them in exchange for fish, led to an inquiry as to how we

killed the animal. On which Ooligbuck showed them his gun, and obtaining

permission, fired it off after cautioning them not to be alarmed. The

report astonished them much, and an echo from some neighbouring pieces

of ice made them think that the ball had struck the shore, then upwards

of a mile distant. The women had left us previously; several of the men

departed the instant they heard the report; and the rest, in a short

time, followed their example. They applied to the gun the same name

they give to their harpoons for killing whales.

We learned from these people that the shore we were now coasting was

part of the main land, and that some land to the northward, which

appeared soon after we had passed their tents, consisted of two islands;

between which and the main shore, there was a passage leading to the

open sea. On landing to cook breakfast and obtain a meridian observation

for latitude, we observed the interior of the country to be similar to

that seen from Nicholson's Island. The soil was in some spots sandy,

but, generally, it consisted of a tenacious clay which cracks in the

sun. The air was perfumed by numerous tufts of a beautiful phlox, and of

a still handsomer and very fragrant cruciform flower, of a genus

hitherto undescribed.

On re-embarking we pulled about eight miles farther betwixt the islands

and the main, and found a narrow opening to the sea nearly barred up.

The bottom was so soft and muddy that the poles sunk deep into it, and

we could not carry the cargo ashore to lighten the boats. We succeeded,

however, in getting through, after much labour, and the moment we

crossed the bar, the water was greenish, and perfectly salt. The cape

forming the eastern point of this entrance lies in latitude 70 degrees

36 minutes N., longitude 127 degrees 35 minutes W. and proved to be the

most northerly part of the main shore which we saw during the voyage. It

is a few miles farther north than Return Reef of Captain Franklin, and

is most probably, with the exception of the land near Icy Cape, since

discovered by Captain Beechey, in the Blossom, the most northern point

of the American Continent. It was called Cape Bathurst, in honour of the

Right Honourable the Earl of Bathurst, and the islands lying off it were

named after George Baillie, Esq., of the Colonial Office. I could not

account in any other way for the comparative freshness of the sheet of

water we had left, than by supposing that a sand-bank extended from Cape

Dalhousie to Baillie's Islands, impeding the communication with the sea,

and this notion was supported by a line of heavy ice which was seen both

from Cape Bathurst and Cape Dalhousie, in the direction of the supposed

bar, and apparently aground.

Taking for granted that the accounts we received from the natives were

(as our own observations led us to believe) correct, Esquimaux Lake is a

very extensive and curious piece of water. The Indians say that it

reaches to within four days' march of Fort Good Hope; and the Esquimaux

informed us that it extends from Point Encounter to Cape Bathurst, thus

ascribing to it an extent from north to south of more than one hundred

and forty miles, and from east to west of one hundred and fifty. It is

reported to be full of islands, to be every where brackish; and, besides

its communication with the eastern branch of the Mackenzie, to receive

two other large rivers. If a conjecture may be hazarded about the

original formation of a lake which we had so few opportunities of

examining, it seems probable that the alluvial matters brought down by

the Mackenzie, and other rivers, have gradually formed a barrier of

islands and shoals, which, by preventing the free access of the tide,

enables the fresh water to maintain the predominance behind it. The

action of the waves of the sea has a tendency to increase the height of

the barrier, while the currents of the rivers and ebb-tide preserve the

depth of the lake. A great formation of wood-coal will, I doubt not, be

ultimately formed by the immense quantities of drift-timber annually

deposited on the borders of Esquimaux Lake.

FOOTNOTES:

[8] The ridge-poles were omitted in the section by mistake.

CONTINUATION OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE EASTERN DETACHMENT.

CHAPTER III.

Double Cape Bathurst--Whales--Bituminous-shale Cliffs on Fire--Enter

Franklin Bay--Heavy Gale--Peninsula of Cape Parry--Perforated

Rock--Detention at Cape Lyon by Wind--Force of an Esquimaux Arrow--Meet

with heavy Ice--Pass Union and Dolphin Straits--Double Cape Krusenstern,

and enter George the Fourth's Coronation Gulph--Reach the Coppermine

River--Remarks--Meteorological Table.

As soon as we entered the clear green water off Cape Bathurst, we

perceived a strong flood tide setting against us, and saw several white

whales, and some black ones of a large size, but of a species unknown to

Ooligbuck.[9] The natives term them _aggeewoerk_, which is the name

given, by the Esquimaux of Hudson's Bay, to the black whales that

frequent the Welcome. Many large masses of ice were floating about, but

they were no impediment to the boats. The beach, from the time we left

Esquimaux Lake, was bold, there being two or three fathoms water close

to the shore. We hailed this change of circumstances with pleasure, for

the shoals and islands skirting Esquimaux Lake had embarrassed us much,

and the brackishness of the water, combined with the trending of the

coast to the northward, and even westward, had excited in our minds an

apprehension, that we might possibly be obliged to make a great circuit

in search of a passage, out of that extraordinary piece of water, and

that the opening, when found, might lie so far to the northward as to be

obstructed by an icy sea. Fortunately our fears were groundless; and, to

increase our joy, the coast-line from Cape Bathurst appeared to run in a

straight direction for Coppermine River. There were many winter-houses

built by the Esquimaux on Cape Bathurst. The cliffs facing the sea were

still frozen, but the water trickling down their sides showed that they

were thawing rapidly. We encamped on the beach in latitude 70 degrees

32-1/2 minutes N., longitude 127 degrees 21 minutes W., having sailed

that day thirty-seven miles. A plentiful supply of very fine sorrel

(_oxyria reniformis_) being obtained from the banks, proved an agreeable

addition to our supper.

[Sidenote: Wednesday, 19th.] Embarking at four o'clock in the morning of

the 19th, we rowed along the coast close to the beach, in from two to

three fathoms water. We landed at noon to observe the latitude; and at

four P.M. a thunder-storm coming on, induced us to encamp for the night.

The day's voyage was thirty-two miles, and our encampment was situated

in latitude 70 degrees 11 minutes N., longitude 126 degrees 15 minutes

W., on a point which was named after Dr. Fitton, the distinguished

President of the Geological Society. No land was visible to seaward, nor

were any fields of ice or large floes seen, but we passed many smaller

pieces and some masses, that, having stranded on the beach, were

dissolving with great rapidity. A regular tide of six hours affecting

the rate of our progress, an allowance was made for it in the reckoning.

The coast consists of precipitous banks, similar in structure to the

bituminous-shale cliffs at Whitby, in Yorkshire. They gradually increase

in altitude from Cape Bathurst, and near our encampment their height

exceeded two hundred and fifty feet. The shale was in a state of

ignition in many places, and the hot sulphureous airs from the land were

strongly contrasted with cold sea-breezes with which, in the morning,

they alternated. The combustion had proceeded to a considerable extent

on the point where we landed at noon. Much alum had formed, and the

baked clays of yellow, brown, white, and red colours, caused the place

to resemble a brick-field or a pottery. This point, which was named

after Dr. Traill, of Liverpool, lies in latitude 70 degrees 19 minutes

N. The interior of the country, as seen from the top of the cliffs,

appeared to be nearly level, and to abound in small lakes. The soil was

clayey, and from the recent thaw wet and soft. Tufts of the beautiful

phlox, before mentioned, were scattered over these, otherwise unsightly

wastes; and, notwithstanding the scanty vegetation, rein-deer were

numerous. Some of the young ones, to whom man was doubtless a novel

object, came trotting up to gratify their curiosity, and were suffered

to depart unmolested. The sea here abounds in molluscae, and many black

whales were seen; also king-ducks, eiders, snow-birds, hawks, and a

large moth.

[Sidenote: Thursday, 20th.] We embarked at half-past two on the morning

of the 20th, and ran alongshore for two hours with a strong and

favourable breeze, when shoals lying off the mouth of a pretty large

river, led us six or seven miles from the coast. The breeze, which was

off the land, freshened considerably, and raised a short breaking sea,

through which we attempted to pull towards the shore, but the boats

shipped much water, and made little head-way. We, therefore, set the

sails again, and, fortunately fetched under a headland, and effected a

landing. The whole of the pemmican in the Union, and some of that in the

Dolphin, was wet on this occasion. In the morning we had passed two

Esquimaux tents, pitched on the beach, but the inmates seeming to be

asleep, we did not disturb them, being unwilling to lose the fair wind

by any delay.

Soon after landing the weather became very foggy, and the wind increased

to a heavy gale. The cliffs at our encampment consisted of slate-clay,

and bituminous alum-slate, and were six hundred feet high. The river,

whose mouth we passed, ran close behind them, having a course parallel

to the coast for some miles before it makes its way to the sea. It was

named Wilmot Horton River, in honour of the Under Secretary of State for

the Colonial Department. Its breadth is about three hundred yards, and

it seems, from the quantity of drift-timber that was piled on the shoals

at its mouth, to flow through a wooded country. The length of this day's

voyage was twenty-four miles, and the position of our encampment was in

latitude 69 degrees 50 minutes N., longitude 125 degrees 55 minutes W.

At high-water, which took place at a quarter past four in the afternoon,

the small slip of beach on which we had encamped was almost covered, and

we had to pile the baggage on the shelving cliff. A very showy species

of gromwell grew near our encampment, in company with the common

sea-gromwell, (_lithospermum maritimum_.)

[Sidenote: Friday, 21st.] On the 21st strong winds and foggy weather,

with a considerable surf on the beach, detained us until after eight

o'clock in the morning, when many large masses of ice coming in, took

the ground near the shore, and smoothed the water sufficiently to enable

us to embark. The fog was dense to seaward and over the land, but the

height of the cliffs left a space of about a mile from the beach, over

which it was carried by the violence of the wind.

About two miles from our late encampment, the bituminous shale was again

noticed to be on fire, giving out much smoke; and as we advanced, the

cliffs became less precipitous, appearing as if they had fallen down

from the consumption of the combustible strata. They gradually

terminated in a green and sloping bank, whose summit, about two miles

from the sea, rose to the height of about six hundred feet. For the

information of the general reader, I may mention that the shale takes

fire in consequence of its containing a considerable quantity of sulphur

in a state of such minute division, that it very readily attracts oxygen

from the atmosphere, and inflames. The combustion is rendered more

lively by the presence of bitumen; and the sulphuric acid, which is one

of its products, unites with the alumina of the shale to form, with the

addition of a small quantity of potass, the triple salt, well known by

the name of alum. The moistening of the strata by the sea-spray

accelerates the process. In some alum-works, where nature has not been

so favourable as in the cliffs of Cape Bathurst, a deficiency of the

bituminous matter requisite to keep up the proper intensity of

combustion, is supplied by brush-wood, which is strewed in alternate

layers with shale that has been previously much divided by long exposure

to the weather, and the whole is then moistened with salt-water. A

further account of these cliffs is given in page xl. of the Appendix.

In the forenoon we passed the mouths of two small rivers, which were

designated after Sir Henry Jardine, Bart., King's Remembrancer in the

Court of Exchequer for Scotland; and Dr. Burnett, Commissioner of the

Victualling Board. A meridian observation was obtained in latitude 69

degrees 38 minutes N.

In the afternoon the wind blowing more on the shore, caused a tumbling

sea. We sailed amongst much stranded ice, and, following the line of

coast, were gradually led into a deep bay, whose east side, having a

northerly direction, was formed by low land, and so much broken by

numerous and extensive inlets, as to look more like a collection of

islands than a part of the main land. We were now, reckoning by degrees

of longitude, fully half way from Point Separation to the Coppermine

River, and the coast from Cape Bathurst had been so exactly in the

proper direction, as to excite high hopes of a short and prosperous

voyage: it was, therefore, no pleasant sight to us to behold land

running out at right angles to our course, and we were willing to

believe that a passage existed betwixt it and the main. This opinion was

supported by the direction of the high land, which had hitherto skirted

the shore, continuing to be south-easterly, until lost to the sight at

the distance of fifteen or twenty miles. We, therefore, endeavoured to

find a passage, but the first opening that we came to, led into a

circular basin of water, apparently land-locked, and about five miles in

diameter. We halted at its entrance to cook our supper, and, during our

stay, perceiving that the ebb-tide set out of it, we determined on

searching for a passage elsewhere. This inlet is six fathoms deep at its

entrance, and would prove an excellent harbour for a ship, only for the

sand-banks, which skirt this part of the coast, and which render the

passage into it too intricate for vessels having a greater draught of

water than our boats. It was named Langton Harbour, after the agent for

the Hudson's Bay Company at Liverpool.

Leaving this harbour, and steering to the northward, we passed several

inlets, into which the flood-tide set with a strong current. We could

not see land towards their bottoms, but their mouths were shoal, and we

felt convinced that there was no passage through them, because the

flood-tide entered them from the westward. [Sidenote: Saturday, 22nd.]

We, therefore, proceeded on our voyage without wasting time in examining

them; and at two o'clock, on the morning of the 22nd, having come

fifty-four miles, we encamped on a beach composed of small fragments of

limestone, and strewed with sea-weed. This beach, which received the

name of Point Stivens, separates an extensive sheet of salt-water from

the sea, and is similar in character to the Chesil Beach, that connects

the Isle of Portland to the shore. It varies in breadth from one hundred

yards to a quarter of a mile, is several miles long, has a northern

direction, and seems to have been formed by the sweep of the tide round

the bay, meeting the ebb from the basins that intersects the peninsular

promontory with which it is connected. There are several narrow breaches

in it through which the tide flows. Anxious to discover the termination

of this promontory which was leading us so much out of the direct course

to the Coppermine, I went to the summit of a rising ground, about five

miles distant, but the view was closed by some small hills, two or three

miles off. The soil was clayey, and vegetation scanty.

In taking wood to make a fire, from a large pile of drift-timber which

had been collected by the Esquimaux, the nest of a snow-bird, containing

four young, was discovered. The parent bird was at first scared away,

but affection for its offspring at length gave it courage to approach

them with food; and as it was not molested it soon became quite

fearless, and fed them with the larvae of insects, whilst the party were

seated at breakfast close by the nest.

At nine o'clock, A.M., we embarked again, and running before a

favourable breeze, came to a point consisting of cliffs of limestone,

twenty feet high, with a small island of the same kind of rock at its

extremity. Many large boulders of greenstone were seen here. After

ascertaining the latitude by meridian observation to be 69 degrees 42

minutes N., we continued our voyage along a bold shore, consisting of

precipices of limestone, forty or fifty feet high, with three or four

fathoms of water at the base. In the evening, having reached a

projection which appeared to be the western pitch of the cape, we

encamped in a bay near a remarkable perforated rock, having come

twenty-six miles since leaving Point Stivens. In the course of the day's

voyage we had to make our way through some pretty extensive streams of

ice, composed of pieces which rose eight or ten feet above the water;

and we saw a considerable quantity of what is termed sailing ice to

seaward, being such as a ship could make her way through. I had now the

gratification of naming the extensive bay we had been coasting for three

days, after my friend and commanding officer; and to the several inlets

on its eastern side I assigned the names of Wright, Cracroft, and

Sellwood, in honour of his near relatives. A group of islands to the

northward was named Booth Islands on the same account.

In bestowing the name of Franklin on this remarkable bay, I paid an

appropriate compliment to the officer, under whose orders and by whose

arrangements the delineation of all that is known of the northern coast

of the American Continent has been effected; with the exception of the

parts in the vicinity of Icy Cape discovered by Captain Beechey. It

would not be proper, nor is it my intention, to descant on the

professional merits of my superior officer; but after having served

under Captain Franklin for nearly seven years, in two successive voyages

of discovery, I trust I may be allowed to say, that however high his

brother officers may rate his courage and talents, either in the

ordinary line of his professional duty, or in the field of discovery,

the hold he acquires upon the affections of those under his command, by

a continued series of the most conciliating attentions to their

feelings, and an uniform and unremitting regard to their best interests,

is not less conspicuous. I feel that the sentiments of my friends and

companions, Captain Back and Lieutenant Kendall, are in unison with my

own, when I affirm, that gratitude and attachment to our late commanding

officer will animate our breasts to the latest period of our lives.

After this feeble but sincere tribute of respect and regard, in which I

hope I have not overstepped the proper bounds of a narrative, I hasten

to resume the details of the voyage.

The country in the neighbourhood of the encampment consisted entirely of

limestone, mostly of the variety named dolomite, and, as is usual where

that stone prevails, it was extremely barren. The cliffs and points of

land present many caverns and perforated rocks, which have very strong

resemblances to the windows and crypts of Gothic buildings. The common

kittiwake breeds in great numbers on the rocky ledges in this quarter,

and their young were already fledged. The temperature during the day was

nearly stationary at 46 degrees, the wind south. The evening being very

fine, the pemmican was taken out of the bags, which were scraped and

dried; and our loss of provision, by the wetting it sustained in the

gale of the 20th, proved to be less than we had expected.

[Sidenote: Sunday, 23rd.] Embarking at four o'clock, A.M. of the 23d, we

sailed with a favourable breeze for nine miles, betwixt Booth Islands

and a shore presenting alternately projecting rocky shoals and narrow

inlets. We then landed, and ascended a hill, about seven hundred feet

high, to ascertain the direction of the coast, and had the satisfaction

of finding that we had now reached the northern extremity of this

remarkable promontory. It was named Cape Parry after the distinguished

navigator whose skill and perseverance have created an era in the

progress of northern discovery, and a letter addressed to him,

containing information of our proceedings and of Captain Franklin's as

far as was known to us, was deposited under a pile of stones which we

erected on the summit of the hill. From this elevated situation, land

was faintly seen bearing S.E. by S., about forty miles distant; and from

thence round to Booth Islands there appeared an open sea, merely studded

with a few streams of sailing ice, but no islands were seen in that

direction. There are many well sheltered coves in the vicinity of Cape

Parry and amongst Booth Islands, but the bottom is rocky, and numerous

reefs render the navigation unsafe for a ship. The eastern side of Cape

Parry exhibits a succession of limestone cliffs, similar to those which

form its western shores; and as we continued our voyage, we passed many

excavations ornamented by graceful slender pillars, and exhibiting so

perfect a similarity to the pure Gothic arch, that had Nature made many

such displays in the Old world, there would be but one opinion as to the

origin of that style of architecture. A small island, on which we landed

to cook breakfast, was named after the late Daniel Moore, Esq., of

Lincoln's Inn. It was composed of a cellular limestone, containing many

crystals of quartz. The whole party went in pursuit of a polar hare

which was seen here, but, although it had no other shelter than the

rocks, it contrived to escape from us all.

In the evening we encamped on an island, which was named by Mr. Kendall

after the Reverend Dr. Burrow of Epping. It is situated in latitude 69

degrees 49 minutes N., longitude 123 degrees 33 minutes W. The length of

the day's voyage was thirty-one miles. Fine weather, and a temperature

of 52 degrees, entailed upon us a visit from the musquitoes. The sea

water here is of a light blue colour and clear, the bottom being

distinctly visible in five fathoms. Pieces of ice still adhered to the

cliffs.

[Sidenote: Monday, 24th.] We were detained in the morning of the 24th by

a thick fog, which cleared up about eight o'clock; but the moon being

then in distance, we remained until noon, that Mr. Kendall might take

observations for lunars and latitude. These necessary operations being

completed, a short voyage of nine miles brought us to an island on which

we encamped, and which obtained from us the name of Clapperton, in

honour of the undaunted explorer of central Africa. In our way we passed

through several streams of ice, composed of pieces of considerable size,

but all evidently in a state of rapid dissolution, under a bright sun;

the water flowing from their surfaces in rivulets. Many black whales,

and various kinds of seals, were seen this day. We saw no black whales

farther to the eastward.

From Clapperton Island we had a view of a ridge of hills, which, from

their direction, appeared to be a continuation of those on the west side

on Franklin Bay. The island itself, like the neighbouring coast, is

composed of limestone, and many detached rocks skirt it, rising from

water that is beautifully clear. When we landed there was a strong

current setting to the eastward, round the end of the island, but it

ceased at four P.M., the time of low water, and was probably produced by

the ebb setting out of some of the inlets of Cape Parry. In the evening

the ice made a noise so like the regular firing of half-minute guns, as

to excite, at first, an idea that we heard the guns of a ship. The

temperature at six o'clock in the evening was as high as 74 degrees in

the shade.

Clapperton Island lies in latitude 69 degrees 41-1/2 minutes N., and

nearly in the longitude of Fort Franklin, from which it is distant

three hundred and thirteen miles in a straight line; but the distance

between the nearer part of the Great Bear Lake and the Arctic Sea here,

does not much exceed one hundred and ninety miles.

[Sidenote: Tuesday, 25th.] Taking advantage of a light breeze and very

fine weather, we embarked at midnight, and crossed over to the east side

of the bay, passing through some heavy streams of ice by rather

intricate channels. At half past five in the morning of the 25th, we

landed on a point of the main shore, and Mr. Kendall took observations

for three sets of lunars. On re-embarking we proceeded a few miles

further, when a heavy gale of wind suddenly springing up, we ran for

shelter into a small creek at the extremity of a cape, which I named

after the distinguished traveller Captain G.F. Lyon, R.N. The bay which

lies betwixt it and Cape Parry, was called Darnley, in honour of the

Earl of Darnley. The distance from Clapperton Island to Cape Lyon is

fourteen miles.

The country in the neighbourhood of Cape Lyon presents a surface varied

by gently swelling eminences, covered with a grassy sward, and

intersected by several narrow ridges of naked trap rocks, rising about

one hundred and fifty feet above the general level. The trap ridges,

when they reach the coast, form high cliffs, and the clay-slate and

limestone lie in nearly horizontal strata beneath them. The view inland

was terminated by the range of hills which we had seen at the bottom of

Darnley Bay, to which the name of Melville Range was now given, in

honour of the Right Honourable the Lord Viscount Melville.

From the top of the highest trap-hill, near the extremity of the cape,

we saw some heavy ice to seaward, but with enough of open water for the

passage of a ship; and, occasionally, during our stay, there was an

appearance of land to the north-westward, occupying two points of the

compass; but we were uncertain whether it might not be a fog-bank

hanging over a field of ice. If it was land, it could not be less than

twenty-five or thirty miles distant, and must, from the portion of the

horizon it occupied, be a large island. Upon the summit of the hill we

erected a pile of stones, and deposited another letter for Captain

Parry, containing a short account of our proceedings.

A gale of wind detained us two days at Cape Lyon, during which Ooligbuck

supplied us with rein-deer meat, and Mr. Kendall obtained several sets

of lunars. The latitude of our encampment, by the mean of three meridian

observations, was 69 degrees 46-1/2 minutes N.; and the longitude, by

lunar distances, 122 degrees 51 minutes W. The temperature of the air,

during the gale, was about 45 degrees, that of the water 35 degrees.

During our stay at Cape Lyon the tides were regular, but the rise and

fall were short of twenty inches. At midnight on the 26th of July, the

sun's lower limb was observed to touch the horizon for the first time

since our arrival on the coast. Some old winter houses were seen in our

walks, but we perceived no indications of the Esquimaux having recently

visited this quarter.

[Sidenote: Thursday, 27th.] The gale moderated on the 27th, and at eight

in the evening it was sufficiently abated to permit us to proceed on our

voyage. After rowing about two miles, the horns of a deer were seen over

a rock at the summit of a cliff, on which M'Leay, the coxswain of the

Union, landed and killed it. This poor animal had been previously

wounded by an Esquimaux arrow, which had broken its shoulder bone. The

jagged bone-head of the arrow was buried in the flesh, and its copper

point bent up where it had struck the bone. The wound was open, and

seemed to have been inflicted at least a fortnight before, but the

animal was still fat. The extremity of Cape Lyon lies about three miles

north-east of the encampment we had left, and in its neighbourhood the

cliffs form bold headlands and several small rocky islands. Soon after

rounding it we came to a projecting point, consisting of cliffs of

limestone, in which there was a remarkable cave, opening to the sea by

an archway, fifty feet high and twenty wide. The walls of the cavern

were two hundred feet high, and a large circular aperture in the roof

gave free admission to the daylight. Mr. Kendall named this point after

Mr. Pearce, a particular friend of his.

The night was fine but cold, the temperature having fallen to 35 degrees

soon after we started, and at midnight the sun sunk for nearly half an

hour beneath the horizon. [Sidenote: Friday, 28th.] We passed much heavy

stream-ice, and towards the morning a quantity of new, or, as the seamen

term it, "bay ice," having formed on the surface on the sea, the boats

were so much retarded that we put ashore at four o'clock of the 28th, to

wait until the increasing heat of the day dissolved it. The point on

which we landed was named after Admiral Sir Richard Godwin Keats,

G.C.B., Governor of Greenwich Hospital, and lies in latitude 69 degrees

49 minutes N. and longitude 122 degrees W., being about eighteen miles

distant from our encampment on Cape Lyon. The rocks at Point Keats

consist of flesh-coloured sandstone. The Melville range of hills

approaches there within eight or ten miles of the sea, and the

intervening country is traversed by ridges of greenstone. On the coast

from Cape Lyon to Point Keats there is a line of large drift timber,

evidently thrown up by the waves, about twelve feet perpendicular

height, above the ordinary spring tides: a sufficient proof of the sea

being nearly clear of ice at the time it was thrown up; for the presence

of any considerable quantity, even of stream-ice, prevents the waves

from rising high. After two hours halt, the bay-ice having dissolved we

re-embarked.

From Cape Lyon to Point Keats the coast runs nearly east; after quitting

the latter we found it trending a little to the southward, and from a

point, which was named in honour of John Deas Thompson, Esq.,

Commissioner of His Majesty's Navy, it has nearly a south-east

direction. We landed a little to the eastward of Point Deas Thompson, to

take a meridian observation for latitude, in a small bay, bounded by

cliffs of limestone, one hundred and forty feet high, in which the waves

had sculptured some beautiful Gothic arches. From the summit of the

cliffs we saw a dark appearance in the eastern horizon, but it was too

indistinct to permit us to decide whether it was land or merely a

fog-bank. To the eastward of these cliffs the coast decreased in height,

and, at the distance of five miles, we passed a small river, which was

named after Francis Palgrave, Esq. Near this river, on the summit of a

cliff, which was twenty-five feet high, we noticed several large logs of

drift timber, with some hummocks of gravel, that appeared to have been

thrown up by the waves. A portion of the Melville Range lies within

three miles of the shore there; and one of its most remarkable hills was

named after my esteemed friend, William Jackson Hooker, LL.D., Regius

Professor of Botany in the University of Glasgow; and another after

Colonel Colby, of the Royal Engineers, one of the Members of the Board

of Longitude. About four o'clock in the afternoon we came to a stream

flowing from a lake, and as it was an excellent boat harbour, we entered

it and encamped. It was named Roscoe, after the eloquent historian of

the Medici; and a conical hill of the Melville Range, visible from its

mouth, received the name of the venerable geographer Major Rennel.

We passed this day through heavier and more crowded streams of ice than

any we had previously seen on the voyage. The navigation amongst it was

tedious and difficult, and just before we put ashore much motion was

imparted to it by a fresh south-west wind. The temperature during the

day varied from 35 degrees to 50 degrees. The mouth of Roscoe River lies

in latitude 69 degrees 41 minutes N., longitude 121 degrees 2 minutes

W., and is forty-eight miles distant from Cape Lyon.

[Sidenote: Saturday, 29th.] We embarked on the 29th, with a fair wind;

but the ice lay so close, that we could not venture to set more than a

reefed foresail, and were ultimately obliged to lower the sail entirely,

and to find a passage through ice with oars and poles. The pieces of ice

were of sufficient magnitude to deserve the name of floes, and were

sometimes several fathoms thick. They were all moving before the breeze,

which caused them to arrange themselves in the form of streams parallel

to the coast, and, consequently, left lanes of open water in the

direction of our course. These lanes, however, were continually changing

their form; and, on several occasions, when we had been tempted by the

favourable appearance of a piece of open water to venture from the

coast, we had great difficulty in extricating ourselves from the ice

which closed around us. The thickness of the ice led me to conclude that

the sea had not been long open in this quarter; and I observed that the

vegetation was later on this part of the coast than on the western side

of Cape Parry.

For the first twelve miles after leaving our encampment, the coast was

low and sandy; the Melville Range still forming the back-ground, at the

distance of four or five miles from the sea. The low beaches were

terminated by a rocky headland, which obtained from us the name of De

Witt Clinton, as a testimony of our sense of the urbanity and love of

science which had prompted his Excellency the Governor of the state of

New York[10] to show so much attention to the members of the Expedition,

in their passage through his government. Some miles beyond Point De Witt

Clinton we came to a steep cliff, where the ice was so closely packed

that we could not force a passage. The cargoes were, therefore, carried

along the foot of the cliff, and the boats launched for a few yards over

a piece of ice. In this operation, the shelving base of an iceberg,

which had formed under the cliff, and still adhered to it, but which was

undermined by the waves, gave way whilst several of the men were

standing upon it; but, fortunately, it did not overset, and they

received no injury, as it was large enough to support them in the water.

At nine o'clock, A.M., we were stopped by the closeness of the ice, and

put ashore until the tide or wind should produce some change.

The tides, since leaving the Mackenzie, had never been observed to have

a greater rise than eighteen inches: but in the neighbourhood of our

encampment, the sea-wrack and lines of drift timber indicated a washing

of the sea to the perpendicular height of twenty feet. The country in

this vicinity consists of a bluish limestone, interstratified with

slate-clay: and naked and rugged ridges of trap rocks rise in various

places above the general level. The soil is composed of clay and

limestone gravel. The latitude of our encampment was ascertained, by

meridian observation, to be 69 degrees 29 minutes N.; its longitude was

120 degrees 20 minutes W.; and its distance from Roscoe River was

twenty-five miles.

[Sidenote: Sunday, 30th.] A breeze of wind from the land having opened a

passage two miles wide, we embarked at two o'clock in the morning of the

30th, and ran seven miles under sail; when, having overtaken the ice

which had passed in the night, we found it too closely packed to allow

us to proceed. In making for the beach, the Union narrowly escaped being

crushed by two large floes of ice, which came together with violence

just as she was about to run betwixt them. The Dolphin had sailed

through the same passage not two minutes before. From an eminence near

our encampment, we had the unpleasant view of a sea covered, as far as

the eye could reach, with ice, excepting a few lanes of open water far

to seaward. The tide fell here seven inches in the morning, and eleven

in the evening, although the north-west wind increased in the afternoon

to a pretty strong gale. The greater fall of the water with that wind,

showing that it found an exit to the eastward, relieved us from an

apprehension, which we had begun to entertain, that we were entering a

deep bay, which might be encumbered by the drift-ice for many days. Much

ice drove past us in the course of the day, before a west-north-west

wind, its progress being only slightly checked for a time by the flood

tide. Recent footsteps of a small party of Esquimaux were seen on the

beach. Our encampment was situated in latitude 69 degrees 24 minutes N.,

and longitude 120 degrees 03 minutes W.

[Sidenote: Monday, 31st.] Embarking on the 31st, at two o'clock in the

morning, we succeeded in getting about six miles through the ice: when

we were again obliged to put ashore at the mouth of a small river, which

was named after James Buchanan, Esq., his Majesty's Consul at New York,

whose friendly attention to the officers of the Expedition well entitled

him to their gratitude. After waiting for a while the tide loosened the

ice a little, and we made some progress by debarking upon the floes, and

pushing them apart with poles, until a sufficient opening was made. This

operation was tedious, and not devoid of hazard to the boats, arising

from the rotatory motion frequently given to the floes, by the pressure

of the body of the ice. At noon, an observation for latitude was

obtained on a projecting point, which was named after William Tinney,

Esq., of Lincoln's Inn. At three in the afternoon, our progress being

again arrested by the compactness of the ice, we hauled the boats upon

the beach, and M'Leay having killed a fat buck rein-deer, the party had

an excellent supper after the fatigues of the day. The length of the

day's voyage was twenty-two miles; the latitude of our encampment, 69

degrees 17-1/2 minutes N., and its longitude 119 degrees 27 minutes W.

The coast line in this quarter is lower, few of the cliffs exceeding

forty feet in height, and there is a greater proportion of flat beach

than occurs nearer Cape Lyon. The ground is strewed with gravel,

apparently arising from a limestone conglomerate which exists there in

considerable quantity. The Melville Range is within four or five miles

of the shore at this place, and does not rise more than five hundred

feet above the sea. Many small rivulets flow from the rising grounds

into the sea, through wide gravelly beds, indicating that at times they

swell into large torrents.

[Sidenote: August 1st.] A light westerly wind having opened a narrow

channel between the ice and the shore, we embarked early in the morning

of the 1st of August, and, three miles from our encampment, came to a

river, which discharged itself by various shallow mouths, separated by

sand banks. Its westernmost and easternmost mouths were five miles

apart; and the latter, which was the largest, was one hundred and fifty

yards wide. Although the outlet of this river is so much barred up, it

discharges a considerable volume of water, and probably has its sources

in the hills which are visible from the northern shores of Great Bear

Lake. It was named after John Wilson Croker, Esq., Secretary to the

Admiralty. Further on we had a view of a high island, lying ten or

twelve miles from the shore, which received the appellation of Sir

George Clerk's Island. M'Leay, who was now acknowledged to be our best

hunter, was sent in pursuit of a deer, which we saw from the boats, and

being successful, we landed to cook our breakfast, after having rowed

twenty miles in the course of the morning. An observation for latitude

was obtained a mile further at a point which was named after Waller

Clifton, Esq., Secretary to the Victualling Board, The coast here makes

a turn to the southward, and about six miles further on, where it

resumes its easterly direction, a river about one hundred yards wide

flows into the sea, betwixt two sand hills. To this river Mr. Kendall

gave the name of Inman, out of respect to the Reverend and Learned

Professor of the Royal Naval College at Portsmouth. A conical hill,

about ten miles distant, in a south-west direction, was named after the

late President of the Royal Society, the highly distinguished Sir

Humphry Davy, Baronet. This was the last part we saw of the Melville

Chain. We encamped at half past seven in the evening, under a high cliff

of limestone, having advanced during the day thirty-seven miles. The

point on which we encamped, received from Mr. Kendall, the name of Wise,

after Captain M.F. Wise, of the Royal Navy, under whose command he

sailed in His Majesty's ship Spartan. It is situated in latitude 69

degrees 03-1/2 minutes N., longitude 118 degrees W.

The coast from Cape Clifton to Point Wise consists of limestone in

horizontal layers, forming cliffs, which are separated from each other

by intervening shelving beaches, and it is skirted to the distance of a

quarter of a mile by rocky shoals, having sufficient water on them for

our boats, but not enough to admit the heavy ice. This was the cause of

our making greater progress than we had been led to expect from the

appearance of the ice in the morning. The cliffs at Point Wise are two

hundred feet high, and from their summits, the ice appeared closely

packed, as far as the eye could reach; no lanes of open water being

visible. It was, however, composed of pieces, and not a continuous

field, for we could distinctly perceive that several of the hummocks it

inclosed were in motion. This was the first time during the voyage that

we saw ice so closely packed, as to appear impenetrable to a ship when

impelled by a good breeze, but it is necessary to state that, even from

a considerable height, we could not tell with certainty the state of the

ice six miles off; scattered pieces at that distance assuming the

appearance of a close pack. The weather this day was fine, the

temperature varying from 43 degrees to 50 degrees.

[Sidenote: Wednesday, 2d.] Soon after setting out on the 2d, the

temperature, which had been about 40 degrees throughout the night, fell

to 34 degrees, and a fog came on. The wind also freshening and putting

the ice in motion, the boats received some heavy blows; but we continued

to advance, though slowly, and with much caution. About ten miles from

our encampment, we passed the mouth of a small river, which was named

after Captain Hoppner, of the Royal Navy, second in command to Captain

Parry, on his third voyage of discovery. Towards noon the fog cleared

away, and a meridian observation was obtained in latitude 68 degrees 56

minutes N. Three miles further on we arrived at the mouth of a wide but

shallow river, which flowed over a rocky bottom, betwixt two sand hills,

and joined the sea by several mouths, separated by shoals. To this river

Mr. Kendall gave the name of his friend, Lieutenant Harding, of the

Royal Navy. Five miles beyond this river, on the extremity of a rocky

cape, the Esquimaux had constructed several store-houses, of drift

timber, which were filled with dried deer-meat and seal-blubber; along

with which, cooking kettles, and lamps made of potstone, copper-headed

spears, and various other articles, were carefully laid up. The ashes of

the recently extinguished fires showed that the natives had quitted this

place only a few days, and we felt much pleasure in figuring to

ourselves the surprise and joy with which they would behold, on their

return, the iron utensils that we deposited in the store-houses for

their use. The cape received the name of "Young," after the learned

Secretary to the Board of Longitude.

From Cape Young we had a view of the sea thickly covered with ice, of a

greater thickness than any we had previously encountered; and we

perceived that there was a deeply indented bay lying in our route, and

so filled with ice, that our only method of passing it appeared to be by

keeping close to the shore, although under the disadvantage of trebling

the distance. The coast in this quarter is similar to that which we had

passed on the two or three preceding days, and is formed of high

limestone cliffs, with intervening shingly beaches; but the country is

still more barren, the quantity of limestone debris almost excluding any

soil. Flat limestone rocks, having only a few inches of water upon them,

skirt the beach, and terminate like a wall in four or five fathoms

water. The ice was closely packed against these rocks, and for five

miles after passing Cape Young, we made a way for the boats only by the

constant use of the hatchet and ice-chisel, and gladly encamped at six

o'clock in the evening, after a day's voyage of thirty-one miles. A herd

of twenty rein-deer were grazing on the beach, but our hunters were too

much fatigued to go in pursuit of them. The encampment was situated in

latitude 68 degrees 53 minutes N., and longitude 116 degrees 50 minutes

W. The temperature varied in the course of the day from 34 degrees to 50

degrees. We observed that the ice continued to dissolve, but not so

rapidly as in the month of July, when the sun did not sink below the

horizon.

[Sidenote: Thursday, 3rd.] We resumed our operations on the morning of

the 3d at the usual hour, and with great labour made a passage for the

boats. At eleven o'clock we landed to refresh ourselves on a projecting

point at the western entrance of a deep bay, having previously passed a

river which was about one hundred yards wide, but very shallow. After

breakfasting, and obtaining a meridian observation in latitude 68

degrees 53 minutes N., we pushed off again, and for some time made very

slow progress. The shores of the bay consisted of beds of limestone,

which, shelving into the water, were covered with masses of ice, forced

up by the pressure of the pack outside. We were, therefore, compelled to

work our way in deeper water, and there the boats, which led by turns,

were occasionally exposed to the hazard of being overset by pieces of

buoyant ice, which frequently broke off from the bases of the floes. In

the language of the whalers, the ice is said to _calf_, when masses are

detached in this manner, and they are sometimes of sufficient magnitude

in the Greenland seas to endanger large vessels. The Dolphin was, at one

time, nearly crushed to pieces by the closing of two floes; but,

fortunately, she had reached a small recess, just as they came in

contact, and they recoiled sufficiently to leave a passage for her exit,

after she had sustained the trifling damage of a few cracks in the upper

planks. The rays of the sun, and the waves acting on the surface of the

floes, had, by thawing them irregularly, formed lakes of fresh water of

some extent upon their surface. When these pieces of water were of

sufficient depth, we availed ourselves of them to make some progress in

our voyage, and in this way we frequently sailed over a considerable

thickness of ice.

At four o'clock P.M. we had advanced five miles, when to our joy we

found a lane of open water, which permitted us to cross to the other

side of the bay, where we encamped in latitude 68 degrees 51-1/2 minutes

N., and longitude 116 degrees 03 minutes W., having sailed in the course

of the day eighteen miles and a half. The bay was named Stapylton in

honour of Major-General the Honourable G.A.C. Stapylton, Chairman of the

Victualling Board; and on ascending a rising ground we perceived that it

communicates with a long, narrow lake. A few miles from the coast the

land rises from three to five hundred feet above the sea, and presents

many precipitous limestone cliffs, and chains of small lakes. The

country is very barren, the only plant we gathered being the yellow

poppy, (_papaver nudicaule_.) By our reckoning we were now nearly in the

longitude of the mouth of the Coppermine River, but about seventy miles

to the northward of it, we, therefore, entertained an opinion that we

were coasting a narrow peninsula, and that we should soon have the

pleasure of perceiving the coast take a southerly direction. It was,

consequently, with some hopes of beholding the sea on the opposite side

of the peninsula that I walked seven or eight miles to the eastward in

the night, but I was disappointed. In my way I had occasion to wade

through a small lake, when two birds, about the size of the _northern

diver_, and apparently of that genus, swam, with bold and angry

gestures, to within a few yards of me, evidently very impatient of any

intruder on their domain. Their necks were of a beautiful pale yellow

colour, their bodies black with white specks. I considered them to

belong to a species not yet described, and regretted that, having left

my gun at the tent, it was not in my power to procure one of them for a

specimen.

[Sidenote: Friday, 4th.] Embarking at three A.M. on the 4th, we found

little difficulty in reaching the eastern cape of Stapylton Bay, the

wind having formed a narrow channel between the ice and the shore in the

night. The temperature was low, and in the morning some new ice was

formed which we easily broke. We noticed several eider ducks breaking a

way through the thin ice for their young ones with their wings, and in

this operation they made greater progress than we did in the boats.

On reaching the cape[11] which was named after Vice-Admiral Sir William

Johnstone Hope, G.C.B., we descried another point about four or five

leagues distant, bearing east-north-east, the intervening bay being

filled with closely packed ice. We were now within twelve miles of Cape

Young, after a laborious navigation of four times that distance, and the

prospect of another bay, equally unpromising, was very vexatious; but

our apprehensions were increased by the view of a continuous line of

land, extending from north-north-west until it was hid behind the nearer

cape, which bore east-north-east, for we feared that it might prove to

be a continuation of the main shore. Our crews, though concerned at the

delay that so much ice was likely to occasion, set about overcoming the

obstacle with a hearty good will, and after an intricate and troublesome

navigation of ten or twelve miles amongst the ice, we found the bottom

of the bay more open, and were enabled to cross over to the eastern side

where we encamped. This bay received the name of the eminent astronomer

James South, Esq.

Mr. Kendall having gone to ascertain from the higher ground the trending

of the coast, returned in about two hours with the cheering intelligence

that the land to the northward was unconnected with the main shore, and

that he had seen the latter inclining to the south-east, with a much

more open sea than we had lately been accustomed to. As soon as supper

was over, I also set out to enjoy the gratifying prospect, and from the

extremity of the cape on which we were encamped, and which was named in

honour of the Right Honourable Lord Bexley, I beheld the northern land

running from north-north-west till it was lost in the horizon on a north

73 degrees east bearing. It seemed to be pretty high but not

mountainous; and although broken towards the east, the principal portion

of it appeared to be continuous. This island, by far the largest one

that was seen, either in the present voyage or on Captain Franklin's

former Expedition, was named after that most distinguished philosopher

Dr. Hyde Wollaston. The main shore had a direction nearly parallel to

Wollaston Land, its most distant point in sight, which I estimated to be

fifteen miles off, bearing S. 61 degrees E. On the strait, separating

the two shores, I bestowed the names of our excellent little boats, the

Dolphin and Union. It varies in width from twelve to twenty miles, and

to the eastward seemed to contain merely detached streams of ice, not

likely to obstruct the progress of a vessel; but to the westward lay the

closely packed ice, filling South's Bay, and extending to seaward. The

ice did not, however, entirely close the strait, for I could discern

lanes of open water towards Wollaston Land. The packed ice which we had

seen lining the coast between Point Clifton and Cape Bexley, may be

perhaps considered as an illustration of the remark made by Captain

Parry, that the western sides of seas and inlets in those latitudes are

more encumbered with ice than the opposite sides; and it is very

probable that a ship might have found a passage by keeping along

Wollaston Land, an opinion which the appearance of the ice as seen from

Cape Bexley, tended to confirm. The latitude of our encampment was 68

degrees 58 minutes N., and its longitude 115 degrees 47 minutes W.; it

was within ten miles of our encampment of the preceding night, although

we had travelled twenty-five miles in the course of the day.

[Sidenote: Saturday, 5th.] The party embarked on the 5th, at the usual

hour in the morning, with their spirits pleasantly excited by the

intelligence of the favourable trending of the coast, communicated by

Mr. Kendall, and after doubling Cape Bexley, proceeded under sail,

before a west-north-west wind, with a rapidity to which they had lately

been unaccustomed. The point of land which Cape Bexley terminates,

consists entirely of horizontal beds of limestone, and is nowhere more

than three hundred feet above the sea. On the west side, the water is

two or three fathoms deep, close to the shore, and the land attains its

greatest elevation by a steep rise from the beach. On the east side

there are some precipitous cliffs, but the coast in general is skirted

by shelving rocks. No soil was seen on the Cape, nor any appearance of

vegetation, the ground being every where covered, to the depth of a

foot, by fragments of limestone, which are detached by the frost from

the solid strata lying beneath. We were much puzzled at first with the

appearance of several parallel trenches, a foot deep, running for a

great distance amongst the fragments, but on examination they were

ascertained to originate in fissures of the subjacent strata. Much

quartz being intermixed with the limestone of Cape Bexley, the fragments

which covered the ground had, by the action of the weather, lost most of

the softer calcareous matter, and were converted into a kind of rasp,

very annoying to pedestrians, being capable of destroying a pair of

stout English shoes in a walk of a few hours.

At eleven o'clock we came to a pack of ice abutting against the shore,

but while we halted to cook breakfast, the wind opened a way for us. In

the course of the morning we passed many heavy streams of ice, separated

by lanes of open water, which would have afforded an easy passage for a

ship. Having obtained a meridian observation for latitude, we

re-embarked, and pulled for five miles through an open channel, to Point

Cockburn, on the opposite side of a bay, which appeared to be four or

five miles deep, and to be quite filled with drift-ice. Many deer were

seen grazing near this point, but we did not stop to send a hunter in

pursuit of them. We afterwards crossed several other indentations of the

coast, skirted by reefs of limestone and low islets, and encamped on

Chantry Island, lying close to the main shore, in latitude 68 degrees 45

minutes N., longitude 114 degrees 23 minutes W., having sailed

thirty-nine miles in the course of the day. Two islands, lying opposite

to our encampment, received the appellations of Manners Sutton and Sir

Robert Liston's Islands. The degree of motion in the ice, which was

drifting between these islands and the shore, indicated a stronger

current of both flood and ebb than we had hitherto seen.

[Sidenote: Sunday, 6th.] On the 6th, we commenced the day's voyage at

three in the morning, but were compelled to put ashore soon afterwards

by a stream of ice barring our way. At six o'clock, however, the flowing

tide opened it sufficiently to enable us to push the boats along with

poles, our progress being occasionally facilitated by the rocky reefs,

which kept the heavier masses from pressing down upon us. Much of the

ice lay aground, in nine fathoms, but none of it rose more than five or

six feet above the surface of the water. We estimated the velocity of

the flood tide, off some of the rocky points, at three miles an hour,

and at such places we had much trouble in endeavouring to keep the boats

clear of the drifting ice. The circular motion which the pieces

occasionally acquired was particularly difficult to guard against, and

had we not depended on the tongues of ice, which, lying deep under

water, prevented the upper parts of the floes to which they belonged

from coming in contact, we should scarcely have ventured amongst them.

We did not, however, entirely escape, for the Dolphin was caught between

a floe and a piece that lay aground, and fairly raised out of the water

by the pressure, which broke one of her timbers and several of her

planks. We put ashore on a small island to repair the damage, and during

our stay Mr. Kendall had a meridian observation in latitude 68 degrees

36-1/2 minutes N. Another island, lying about two miles from the main

land, was distinguished by the name of Aylmer Bourke Lambert, Esq.,

Vice-President of the Linnean Society. The sea water there was

beautifully clear.

At half-past one, the Dolphin being again rendered sea-worthy, we

prosecuted our voyage until five P.M., when the flood-tide set with such

velocity round a rocky point, and brought so much ice with it, that we

considered it prudent to put ashore. The violent eddies in the currents

there, and the sudden approach and collision of the large masses of ice,

reminded us forcibly of the poet's description of Scylla and Charybdis.

The length of the day's voyage was twenty-one miles, and our encampment

was situated in latitude 68 degrees 32 minutes N., longitude 113 degrees

53 minutes W. The temperature at nine P.M. was 60 degrees.

Mr. Kendall and I took a walk of some miles along the shore, and were

happy to observe the coast inclining to the southward, although no doubt

now existed as to our accomplishing the voyage sufficiently early to

allow us to cross the barren grounds, to the eastward of Great Bear

Lake, before the cold weather set in. The flowering season for most of

the plants on the coast was already past, but our route for the

remainder of the distance to Bear Lake, inclining much to the southward,

would naturally have the effect of prolonging to us the duration of the

summer. A conspicuous hill, discovered in our walk, received the name of

Mount Barrow, in honour of John Barrow, Esq., Secretary to the

Admiralty; and two islands in the offing were named after Commanders

Bayfield and Douglas, of the Royal Navy, to both of whom the officers of

the Expedition were indebted for much assistance and personal kindness,

in their progress through Canada. The interior of the country was flat,

but the limestone formed cliffs on the shore two hundred feet high. From

the form of the islands, I was led to believe that they consisted of

trap rocks. Wollaston Land, as seen from this encampment, appeared to

recede gradually from the main, and it sunk under the horizon, on a

north-east bearing. By estimation, the most easterly part of it which we

saw, is in latitude 68 degrees 45 minutes N., and longitude 113 degrees

53 minutes W. The navigation of the Dolphin and Union Straits would be

dangerous to ships, from the many sunken rocks which we observed near

the southern shore.

[Sidenote: Monday, 7th.] Embarking at two A.M. on the 7th, we crossed a

deeply indented bay, which was named after Lieutenant-Colonel Pasley, of

the Royal Engineers, to whose invention we owe the portable boat, named

the Walnut-shell, which we carried out with us. On the east side of

Pasley Cove there are some bold limestone cliffs, that form the

extremity of a promontory, to which we gave the name of Cape

Krusenstern, in honour of the distinguished Russian hydrographer. It

lies in latitude 68 degrees 23 minutes N., longitude 113 degrees 45

minutes W., and is the most eastern part of the main land which we

coasted. From a cliff, two hundred feet high, two miles to the southward

of Cape Krusenstern, we had a distinct view of the high land about

Inman's Harbour, on the western side of Cape Barrow, which was the most

easterly land seen on this voyage, and lies in longitude 111 degrees 20

minutes W. The space between Capes Barrow and Krusenstern is crowded

with islands.

By entering George the Fourth's Coronation Gulf at Cape Krusenstern, we

connected the discoveries of this voyage with those made by Captain

Franklin on his former expedition, and had the honour of completing a

portion of the north-west passage, for which the reward of five thousand

pounds was established by his Majesty's Order in Council, but as it was

not contemplated, in framing the Order, that the discovery should be

made from west to east, and in vessels so small as the Dolphin and

Union, we could not lay claim to the pecuniary reward.

While the party were at breakfast I visited Mount Barrow, which is a

steep hill about three hundred feet high, surrounded by a moat fifty or

sixty feet wide and twenty deep, and having a flat summit bounded by

precipices of limestone. Three banks, like causeways, afforded the means

of crossing the moat, and the hill altogether formed a remarkably

complete natural fortification. The Esquimaux had marked most of the

prominent points in this quarter, by erecting piles of stones similar to

the cairns built for land-marks by the shepherds in Scotland. These

erections were occasionally noticed, after doubling Cape Parry, but they

were more numerous here. The ice which we saw this day was in form of

loose streams, and offered no material impediment. Several wreaths of

snow lay at the base of the cliffs that had a northern exposure, being

the remains of that which had accumulated in the winter.

The latitude 68 degrees 13 minutes N. was observed at noon on a low

point which projected from some higher lands. From this point, which was

named after Edward H. Locker, Esq., Secretary to the Royal Hospital at

Greenwich, we had a view of Cape Hearne, the form of which I thought I

recognised from my recollections of it on the former voyage. We reached

Cape Hearne in the evening, having in the afternoon skirted a low and

indented coast; a bay immediately to the north of it was named after

Captain Basil Hall, of the Royal Navy. Cape Hearne itself is a low

point, not visible from the mouth of the Coppermine; but the high land

behind it, when seen from a distance, appears like a steep promontory,

and is that designated as Cape Hearne in Captain Franklin's chart of his

former voyage. The latitude of this cape is 68 degrees 11 minutes N.,

and its longitude 114 degrees 54 minutes W. The length of the day's

voyage was forty miles. Many deer were seen here, and Ooligbuck killed a

very fine one in the evening. After encamping I went a few miles into

the interior, and found that the country was composed of limestone,

which rose by a succession of terraces to the height of about three

hundred feet above the sea. The heat of the day was considerable, the

thermometer, when exposed to the rays of the sun, indicating 86 degrees,

without the bulb being blackened, or any other means used to retain the

heat.

[Sidenote: Tuesday, 8th.] Embarking early on the eighth, and passing

through several loose streams of ice, some pieces of which were

twenty-four feet thick, we landed at nine o'clock on a bold cape to

prepare breakfast. It is formed of columnar greenstone, reposing on

slaty limestone, and rising precipitously from the sea to the height of

three hundred and fifty feet. I named this well marked point Cape

Kendall, after my highly esteemed friend and companion, and had the

pleasure of pointing out to him, from its summit, the gap in the hills

at Bloody Fall, through which the Coppermine River flows. Mr. Kendall

having taken the necessary bearings and sketches for the completion of

his chart, we descended the hill to announce to the men, that a short

traverse would bring us to the mouth of the Coppermine River. As we were

aware of the disappointment which often springs from the premature

excitement of hope, we had not previously acquainted them with our near

approach to the termination of our voyage; fearing that an unfavourable

trending of coast, or an intervening body of ice, might protract it

some days longer than we expected. The gratifying intelligence that we

now conveyed to them, was, therefore, totally unexpected, and the

pleasure they experienced found vent in heartfelt expressions of

gratitude to the Divine Being, for his protection on the voyage. At noon

the latitude of Cape Kendall was ascertained to be 67 degrees 58 minutes

N., and its longitude by reckoning was 115 degrees 18 minutes W.

Re-embarking, we steered for the mouth of the Coppermine River with the

sails set to a fine breeze, plying the oars at the same time, and on

rounding Cape Kendall, we opened a magnificent inlet, or bay, rendered

very picturesque by the manner in which its lofty cliffs came

successively in sight as we crossed its mouth. We distinguished it by

the name of our mutual friend and companion Captain Back. One of

Couper's Islands, on which we landed, consists of greenstone, rising

from the water like steps of a stair; and from its summit we perceived

that a low piece of land, which, on the former voyage, had been mistaken

for an island, was, in fact, the extremity of Point Mackenzie, and that

Richardson River was merely a ravine, now dry.[12] Having reached the

mouth of the Coppermine River, we encamped within a hundred yards of the

position of the tents on Captain Franklin's former Expedition. Some

half-burnt wood, the remains of the fires then made, were still lying on

the spot; and I also recognised the Esquimaux stage, which we visited on

that occasion, but there were no skins nor utensils on it now.

The completion of our sea voyage so early in the season was a subject of

mutual congratulation to us all; and to Mr. Kendall and myself it was

highly gratifying to behold our men still fresh and vigorous, and ready

to commence the laborious march across the barren grounds, with the same

spirit that they had shown in overcoming the obstacles which presented

themselves to their progress by sea. We all felt that the comfort and

ease with which the voyage had been performed, were greatly owing to the

judicious and plentiful provision of stores and food which Captain

Franklin had made for us; and gratitude for his care mingling with the

pleasure excited by our success, and directing our thoughts more

strongly to his party, the most ardent wishes were expressed that they

might prove equally fortunate. The correctness of Mr. Kendall's

reckoning was another source of pleasure. Having been deprived of the

aid of chronometers, by the breaking of the two intended for the eastern

detachment of the Expedition, during the intense winter cold, our only

resource for correcting the dead reckoning was lunar observations, made

as frequently as opportunities offered; yet when we approached the

Coppermine River, Mr. Kendall's reckoning differed from the position of

that place, ascertained on Captain Franklin's former Expedition, only

twenty seconds of time, or about two miles and a half of distance, which

is a very trifling difference when the length of the voyage and the

other circumstances are taken into consideration. The distance between

Point Separation and the mouth of the Coppermine River, by the route we

pursued, is nine hundred and two geographical miles.

In our progress along the coast no opportunity was omitted of noting the

times of high-water, and a tide-table drawn up by Mr. Kendall, is given

in pages 236, 237. We nowhere observed the rise of the tide to exceed

twenty-two inches, and in some places it was not more than eight or

nine; but the velocity of the flood and ebb was greater than could have

been expected from so small a rise. Off the Alluvial Islands, lying

between the outlets of the Mackenzie River and Esquimaux Lake, it was in

the strength of the flood about a mile an hour; at Cape Bathurst it

exceeded a mile and a half; and in the Dolphin and Union Straits it was

fully three miles. The stream of the flood set every where from the

eastward.

The variation of the magnetic needle, which was forty-six degrees

easterly at Point Separation, attained to 50 degrees at Refuge Cove, 53

degrees at Point Maitland, and 56 degrees at Cape Parry; after which it

gradually decreased as we went to the south-east; and at the mouth of

the Coppermine, it was 48 degrees.

We saw no ice that would have much impeded a ship, except between Sir

George Clerk's Island and Cape Bexley, where it was heavy and closely

packed. The appearance, however, of lanes of open water towards

Wollaston Land, opposite to Cape Bexley, induced us to think that there

might be a good passage for a ship on the outside of the ice, which

lined the south shore, and which seems to have been packed into the

indentations of the coast by the strong north-west winds that had

prevailed for some days. A ship would find shelter amongst the islands

of George the Fourth's Coronation Gulf, in Back's Inlet, in Darnley Bay,

and amongst Booth's Islands, lying off Cape Parry; but the bottom, at

the latter place, is rocky, and there are many sunken rocks along the

whole of that coast. To the westward of Cape Parry, we saw no ship

harbours, and the many sand-banks skirting the outlets of Esquimaux

Lake would render it dangerous for a ship to approach the shore in that

quarter. There is such an abundance of drift-timber on almost every part

of the coast, that a sufficient supply of fuel for a ship might easily

be collected, and wherever we landed on the main shore we found streams

or small lakes of fresh water. Should the course of events ever

introduce a steam-vessel into those seas, it may be important to know

that in coasting the shores between Cape Bathurst and the Mackenzie,

fire-wood sufficient for her daily consumption may be gathered, and that

near the Babbage River, to the westward of the Mackenzie, a tertiary

pitch-coal exists of excellent quality, which Captain Franklin describes

as forming extensive beds.

The height to which the drift-timber is thrown up on the shores at the

western entrance of the Dolphin and Union Straits is, I think, an

indication of an occasional great rise in the sea, which, as the tides

are in comparison so insignificant, I can ascribe only to the north-west

winds driving the waters of an open sea towards the funnel-shaped

entrance of the straits. If this view is correct, Wollaston Land

probably extends far to the north, and closely adjoins to Banks' Land,

or is connected with it. Captain Parry found the strait between Melville

Island and Banks' Land obstructed by ice, and this will naturally be

generally the case, both there and in the Dolphin and Union Straits, if

they form the principal openings through a range of extensive islands,

which run north and south, and bound a large tract of sea, comparatively

free from land. The heat of the summer in that quarter seems to be

always or almost always sufficient to admit of the ice breaking up, but

not powerful enough to dissolve it entirely. Hence the loose ice driven

about by the winds, and carried to the lee-side of the wider expanses of

sea, is firmly packed in the narrow straits and winding passages amongst

the islands, from whence it can be dislodged only by a concurrence of

very favourable circumstances, and where the waste by the solar rays is

replaced by every breeze blowing from the open sea. The north-west winds

being the strongest and most prevalent in the latter part of the summer,

it is at the western end of a strait that the ice is most frequently and

closely packed. Captain Parry remarks that "there was something peculiar

about the south-west extremity of Melville Island, which made the icy

sea there extremely unfavourable to navigation, and which seemed to bid

defiance to all efforts to proceed farther to the westward in that

parallel of latitude." The Dolphin and Union Straits hold out greater

prospects of success for a similar attempt, not only from their more

southern position, but from the strong current of flood and ebb which

flows through them and keeps the ice in motion.

We noticed on the coast about one hundred and seventy _phaenogamous_, or

flowering plants, being one-fifth of the number of species which exist

fifteen degrees of latitude farther to the southward. The grasses,

bents, and rushes, constitute only one-fifth of the number of species on

the coast, but the two former tribes actually cover more ground than all

the rest of the vegetation. The cruciferous, or cress-like tribes afford

one-seventh of the species, and the compound flowers are nearly as

numerous. The _shrubby plants_ that reach the sea-coast are the common

juniper, two species of willow, the dwarf Birch (_betula glandulosa_),

the common alder, the hippophae, a gooseberry, the red bearberry

(_arbutus uva ursi_), the Labrador tea plant, (_ledum palustre_,) the

Lapland rose (_rhododendron lapponicum_,) the bog whortleberry

(_vaccinium uliginosum_,) and the crow-berry (_empetrum nigrum_.) The

kidney-leaved oxyria grows in great luxuriance there, and occasionally

furnished us with an agreeable addition to our meals, as it resembles

the garden sorrel in flavour, but is more juicy and tender. It is eaten

by the natives, and must, as well as many of the cress-like plants,

prove an excellent corrective of the gross, oily, rancid, and frequently

putrid meat, on which they subsist. The small bulbs of the Alpine

bistort (_polygonum viviparum_,) and the long, succulent, and sweet

roots of many of the _astragaleae_, which grow on the sandy shores, are

eatable; but we did not learn that the Esquimaux were acquainted with

their use. A few clumps of white spruce-fir, with some straggling black

spruces and canoe birches, grow at the distance of twenty or thirty

miles from the sea, in sheltered situations, on the banks of rivers.

_ABSTRACT of the Meteorological Register, kept by the Eastern

Detachment, in their Voyage between the Mouths of the Mackenzie and

Coppermine Rivers._

Temperature in the Shade.

Highest. Direction of

Date. Lowest. Mean. the Winds. Weather and Remarks.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

July

9 32 38 35 East; NEbE. Fresh breezes. Clear sky with

fog over the ice.

10 45 57 51 ESE. Strong breezes, clear weather.

11 42 51 43 East. Strong breezes, clear sky, and

bright sun.

12 45 50 47 Do. Ditto, ditto.

13 46 57 52 East; SE. Moderate breezes. Clear sky;

rain in the night.

14 42 42 42 West. Heavy gales. Thick fog.

15 52 57 55 Nearly calm. Very fine weather.

16 38 55 47 South. Moderate breezes. Cloudy A.M.,

clear P.M.

17 50 62 54 West; North. Fog A.M. When wind veered to

north cleared up. Temperature

of sea 55 degrees.

18 45 56 50 South; East. Light airs A.M.; fresh breezes

P.M.; calm in the night.

19 44 54 49 East; West. Fresh breezes and cloudy A.M.

Four P.M. West wind and foggy

weather.

20 46 50 48 NW., WNW. Foggy; fresh breezes A.M.

Increased to a strong gale P.M.

21 42 48 46 WNW.; NW. Fresh breezes and foggy A.M.

Fine and clear P.M.

22 45 47 46 South. Fresh breezes A.M. Fine

weather P.M.

23 46 58 52 SW. Moderate and cloudy. Many

Musquitoes.

_Meteorological Register, &c.--Concluded._

Temperature in the Shade.

Highest. Direction of

Date. Lowest. Mean. the Winds. Weather and Remarks.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

July

24 50 76 66 West. Moderate breezes. Foggy A.M.

Occasionally hazy P.M. Myriads

of Musquitoes.

25 45 66 55 South; NE. Fine A.M. Strong gales and

partial fogs P.M.

26 35 47 41 NE. Strong gales and clear.

Temperature of sea 35 deg.

27 35 45 40 ENE. Moderate.

28 35 50 42 Calm; North. Fine clear weather.

29 37 41 38 WNW. Moderate breezes; foggy.

30 36 40 38 WNW. Fog hanging over the ice;

clear inland; moderate breezes.

31 38 45 41 NW. Moderate breezes; occasionally

hazy, fog over the ice.

Aug.

1 43 50 48 West. Moderate breezes; hazy to seaward.

2 34 50 41 West; variable. Hazy and occasionally foggy.

3 38 43 40 NE.; East. Light breezes and clear.

4 38 55 46 NE.; ESE. Fine clear weather.

5 39 56 47 EbS.; WSW. Do. Moderate P.M.

6 42 56 47 South; variable. Do.

7 36 68 52 SSE. Fine and very clear.

Temperature in the sun 86 deg.

8 44 60 52 North. Do.

-----------------

41.45 51.92 46.48

FOOTNOTES:

[9] The appearance of whales on the north coast, nearly midway between

the nearest passages into Behring's and Barrow's Straits, and upwards of

a thousand miles distant from either, affords subject for interesting

speculation. It is known that they must come frequently to the surface

to breathe, and the following questions naturally arise:--Are there at

all seasons large spaces of open water in the Arctic Seas? or do these

animals travel from the Atlantic or Pacific Oceans immediately on the

breaking up of the ice off Cape Bathurst, and so early in the season as

the middle of July; while the sea, to the eastward and westward, is

still covered with ice? if the latter is the fact, it is a very curious

part of the natural history of these animals. The Esquimaux informed us,

that they are rarely seen when the ice lies close, and in accordance

with this remark Captain Franklin saw few to the westward, and we also

lost them as we approached the Coppermine River, and met with more ice.

[10] Since the above passage was written, the world has had to mourn the

loss of this distinguished statesman and philosopher.

[11] Its latitude was ascertained by meridional observations to be 68

degrees 58 minutes N.

[12] Captain Franklin has since transferred the name of Richardson to

the Bay between Point Mackenzie and the mouth of the Coppermine River.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE EASTERN DETACHMENT CONCLUDED.

CHAPTER IV.

Ascend the Coppermine River--Abandon the Boats and Stores--Commence the

Land Journey--Cross the Copper Mountains and Height of Land--Meet

Indians who bring Provisions--Arrive at Great Bear Lake--Detained by

want of a Boat--Send out Hunters--Arrival of Beaulieu--Collect the

Party, and proceed to Fort Franklin--Conclusion.

[Sidenote: Wednesday, 9th.] At four o'clock in the morning of the 9th of

August, we left our encampment at the mouth of the Coppermine River, and

proceeded in the boats to Bloody Fall, a distance of about eleven miles.

The river was very low, and, in many places, there was scarcely water

enough for our boats, which did not draw more than fourteen inches. On

the preceding evening an Esquimaux dog had come to our encampment: his

meagre aspect showed that he had fared badly, and hunger had rendered

him so tame that he readily ate from our hands. After following us a

considerable way up the river he left us; and we found, on our arrival

at Bloody Fall, that a party of Esquimaux had just quitted that place;

probably having discovered us from a distance.

The Coppermine River, for forty miles above Bloody Fall, flows over an

uneven stony bed, betwixt precipitous rocky walls, and is full of

rapids. It is totally impracticable to ascend it in boats having a

greater draught of water than a few inches; and even a small canoe must

be frequently carried over land for considerable distances, to avoid the

numerous obstacles which occur. It was necessary, therefore, that we

should leave at this place the Dolphin and Union, and every thing that

was not absolutely necessary for our journey. We determined, however, on

taking with us Colonel Pasley's canvass boat, the Walnut-shell, in the

hope of its occasionally relieving the men of their burdens for a short

time, should any part of the river admit of its use. The afternoon

was employed in arranging the loads for crossing the barren grounds. Twenty

pounds of pemmican were allotted to each man, and the packages of

maccaroni, arrow-root, portable-soup, chocolate, sugar, and tea, were

equally distributed; together with the nautical almanack, astronomical

tables, charts, two fishing nets, the collection of plants, specimens of

rocks, and the portable boat, kettles, and hatchets; all of which, with

the blankets, spare shoes, guns, and ammunition, made a load of about

seventy-two pounds a man. Mr. Kendall undertook to carry the sextant and

azimuth-compass; and I took the artificial horizon and a package of

paper for drying plants, besides which we each carried a blanket, gun,

and ammunition. As I feared that some of the party would over-rate their

strength, and, through a desire of saving some favourite article, load

themselves too heavily at the outset, which could not fail to prove very

injurious to the regularity and speed of our march, I informed them,

that, as soon as we were at a convenient distance from our present

encampment, I should halt and examine all their bundles.

The boats were drawn up on shore, out of the reach of any flood, and the

remainder of the articles, that we had brought to give the Esquimaux,

were put into boxes and placed in the tents, that they might be readily

found by the first party of that nation that passed this way. They

consisted of fish-hooks, lines, hatchets, knives, files, fire-steels,

kettles, combs, awls, needles, thread, blue and red cloth, gartering,

and beads, sufficient to serve a considerable number of Esquimaux for

several years. The tents were securely pitched, and the Union Jack

hoisted, partly for the purpose of attracting the attention of the

natives, and partly to show them the mode of using the tents, which may

prove to be very useful in their summer journeys. That no accident might

occur from the natives finding any of our powder, all that we did not

require to take with us was thrown into the river.

[Sidenote: Thursday, 10th.] At six o'clock on the morning of the 10th,

after the men had been down to the beach to take a last look of our

little boats, we began our march to Bear Lake, intending to keep on the

banks of the Coppermine as far as its bend at the Copper Mountains, and

to strike from thence straight across the hills for the mouth of Dease's

River, which falls into the north-east arm of Bear Lake. We set off at a

pretty quick pace, and the first hill, after leaving our encampment,

being steep, tried the wind of most of the party, so that the few who

had loaded themselves with superfluous articles, were glad to throw

them away during a short halt on its summit, and when I examined their

packages, at the next resting-place, I found little to reject. A path

beaten by the rein-deer and the Esquimaux conducted us down the southern

face of this range of hill to the plain beneath, when we halted to

prepare breakfast, and to make some further arrangements, as several of

the party, being unaccustomed to carry loads, advanced slowly. After

breakfast the portable boat was put together, and the baggage being

placed in it, we endeavoured to tow it up the river, but found this to

be impracticable, owing to the badness of the towing-path, the numerous

high cliffs which bound the stream, and the form of the boat, which

permitted the water in strong rapids to flow over its bows. This boat

was admirably adapted for the purpose for which it was constructed by

Colonel Pasley, that of crossing a river or lake, as we had ascertained

by previous trials; but we knew that no river, except such as we could

ford, could occur on our route to Bear Lake; and I, therefore,

determined on leaving it, together with half a bag of arrow-root, and

five muskets, by which the loads were reduced about fifteen pounds a

man. The march was then resumed with alacrity, and, notwithstanding that

the day was hot and sultry, we proceeded with greater speed and

satisfaction. Mr. Kendall walked at the head of the line at a steady

pace, halting for five minutes every half hour to rest the party, and

prevent straggling. At five we encamped, having marched about six miles

in a direct line. The route throughout the journey was regulated, from

time to time, by our taking the bearing of a distant hill, or other

conspicuous object, by the compass, and walking directly for it; and the

distance was estimated by noting the time and guessing the rate of our

march. Of this, which was in general a little more than two miles an

hour, previous practice had enabled us to judge so correctly, that the

estimate seldom erred more than a mile a day. The error, whatever it

was, was always corrected at noon, when the latitude was observed, and

the course and distance were then calculated anew.

During the day several small herds of rein-deer were seen, but I would

not permit any one to leave the line of march to go in pursuit of them;

after encamping, however, M'Leay killed a fine buck. A solitary stunted

spruce-fir grew near our encampment, and the most northerly clump on the

river was seen about two miles to the southward. When supper was over

and a watch set, we stretched ourselves on the ground, and soon sunk

into sound sleep. The temperature at sunset was 62 degrees.

[Sidenote: Friday, 11th.] Setting out on the 11th, at six in the

morning, we halted to breakfast at nine, and Mr. Kendall took an

observation at noon, in latitude 67 degrees 33 minutes N. We encamped at

half past five P.M. amongst some small pines. The day was fine, and a

fresh easterly wind rendered it agreeable for walking; but the men were

much annoyed by their burdens, and appeared jaded when we halted for the

night. Their loads could not have exceeded fifty-two pounds each, but

the frequent ascent and descent in crossing the small hills that lay in

our way, and the occasional sponginess of the ground, and insecurity of

footing, rendered marching much more laborious than it would have been

on a hard English highway. The direct distance travelled this day was

about twelve miles. We saw many gray Arctic marmots (_Arctomys Parryi_,)

sporting near their burrows, and a little terrier dog, which had been

our fellow voyager from England, showed much dexterity in cutting off

their retreat, and succeeded in catching several of them. The dog's long

confinement in the boat rendered the exercise he now took very

fatiguing, and when we halted for the night he was the most tired of the

party. Many young rein-deer were also seen, and after we encamped

Ooligbuck killed one. The temperature in the evening was 50 degrees, but

the night was cold.

[Sidenote: Saturday, 12th.] Our march on the 12th was rendered pleasant

by a cool northerly breeze, and the men being now familiar with their

loads, which had also suffered some diminution by the preceding

evening's repast, we made a more rapid progress. The length of the march

was seventeen miles, being, exclusive of the half hourly halts and the

time occupied by breakfast, at the rate of two miles and a half an hour.

In the course of the day we crossed several ridges of the Copper

Mountains to avoid a bend of the river. The Whisky-John (_corvus

Canadensis_) visited our encampment in the evening for the first time

since we left the Mackenzie.

[Sidenote: Sunday, 13th.] On the 13th, commencing the day's march at

five A.M., we walked along the banks of the river until nine, when we

halted to prepare breakfast, at the place where Captain Franklin

encamped on the 11th of July 1821. After breakfast we forded the small

stream, on the banks of which several pieces of native copper and some

copper ore were found on the former Expedition. A quantity of ice formed

by snow, consolidated by the oozing of the stream, still remained in the

bed of this rivulet.

At noon the latitude was observed in 67 degrees 13 minutes N., and as we

were now on the spot where the Coppermine makes the nearest approach to

the north-east arm of Bear Lake, we decided on striking directly from

this place to the mouth of Dease's River, and the course and distance

were accordingly calculated. Our route lay over rocks of old red

sandstone, clay-slate, and greenstone disposed in ridges, which had a

direction from E.S.E. to W.N.W. The sides of many of the ridges were

precipitous, and their uneven and stony summits were two hundred or two

hundred and fifty feet high. The valleys were generally swampy and

abounded in small lakes. A few scattered and thin clumps of pines

existed in the more sheltered spots, but the country was, in general,

naked. Several burrows of wolves were seen in the mountains. We crossed

two small streams in the course of the day, flowing towards the

Coppermine, and encamped at four P.M. on the banks of a small lake.

Sand-flies, the first we had seen this season, were numerous and

troublesome in the evening, the temperature then being 53 degrees.

[Sidenote: Monday, 14th.] Setting out at five A.M. on the 14th, we

halted to breakfast at nine, after a pretty brisk walk through a country

entirely destitute of wood. Some partridges, which were so tame as to be

easily killed with stones, furnished us with an agreeable variety of

diet. A meridional observation was obtained in latitude 67 degrees 10

minutes N. In endeavouring to get round the south end of a small chain

of lakes, which lay in our route, we were stopped by a narrow stream

about six feet deep, flowing from them towards the Coppermine River;

but, on sounding the lake a little way from the head of the stream, we

found that it was fordable without difficulty. We marched to a late hour

in search of fuel to cook some deer's meat, which M'Leay had procured in

the course of the day, and were fortunate in at length finding a wooded

valley on the banks of a small stream, that fell into the chain of lakes

which we had crossed. It is probably this river, and chain of lakes,

that the Indians ascend from the Coppermine River in canoes to the

height of land which they cross on their route to Bear Lake.[13] The

ridges of hill over which we marched on this day consisted of spotted

sandstone and porphyry. The temperature in the evening was 47 degrees,

and the night was frosty. Two white wolves took a survey of our

bivouack, but did not venture within gun-shot.

[Sidenote: Tuesday, 15th.] Starting on the 15th at five o'clock, we

marched until eight, when we halted to breakfast. The air felt very

cold, although the thermometer was not below 39 degrees. In the early

part of the day we crossed some ridges of sandstone, and towards noon we

travelled over granite, similar to that which abounds in the

neighbourhood of Fort Enterprize. Much wood was seen in a valley far to

the westward, but the hills over which our course lay were quite naked.

The bog whortleberry (_vaccinium uliginosum_,) however, grew abundantly

on these hills, and as its fruit was now in the highest perfection, the

men at every resting-place threw themselves down, and indulged freely,

without sustaining any injury.

In the afternoon our route was over nearly horizontal strata of spotted

sandstone and conglomerate. About three o'clock we had gained the summit

of the height of land separating the Coppermine River from Great Bear

Lake, and obtained from it an extensive view of a lower and well wooded

country; but all the grounds in our immediate neighbourhood consisted of

barren sandstone strata. After looking in vain for a comfortable

sleeping-place, as the night threatened to be stormy, and a moist and

cold fog was setting in, we were obliged to content ourselves with

building a rude shelter with blocks of sandstone; and to use for firing

a black lichen (_cornicularia divergens_,) which, fortunately, grew

plentifully in the crevices of the rock. The distance walked this day

was about fourteen miles. We had no meridional observations, because the

sky was obscured.

We had supped, and most of the men had retired to rest, when Mr.

Kendall, in sweeping the horizon with his telescope, saw three Indians

coming down a hill, and directing their steps towards us. More moss was

immediately thrown on the fire, and the St. George's ensign hoisted on

the end of a musquet, to point out to the comers who we were; but as

they hid the youngest of their number in a ravine, at the foot of the

hill, and the two seniors seemed to approach slowly and with suspicion,

Mr. Kendall and I went unarmed to meet them. They came up, one with his

bow and arrows in his hand, and the other with his gun cocked; but as

soon as they recognised our dress, which was the same that I had worn in

our voyage round Bear Lake, the preceding autumn, when I had seen most

of the Hare Indian tribe, they shouted in an ecstasy of joy, shook hands

most cordially with us, and called loudly for the young lad to come up.

The meeting was no less gratifying to us: these people had brought furs

and provisions to Fort Franklin in the winter, and they now seemed to be

friends come to rejoice with us on the termination of our voyage. We

learned from them, partly by signs, and partly from the little we

understood of their language, that by the advice of It-chinnah, the

Hare Indian Chief, they had been hunting for some time in this

neighbourhood, in the hopes of falling in with us on our way from the

sea; that they would give us all the provision they had collected,

accompany us to Bear Lake, and warn all the Indians in the neighbourhood

of our arrival. They appeared much surprised, when, placing the compass

on the ground, we showed them the exact bearing of the mouth of Dease's

River; and they were not able to comprehend how we knew the way in a

quarter through which we had never travelled. They said, however, that

they would conduct us in the morning to the Indian portage road, where

we would have better walking than by keeping the direct route across the

hills. We had reserved but little that we could present to these kind

people, though every one contrived to muster some small article for

them, which they gratefully received. They were dressed, after the

manner of their tribe, with fillets of deer-skin round their heads and

wrists, and carried in their hands a pair of deer's horns and a few

willow twigs, which are all serviceable in enabling them to approach the

rein-deer, in the way described by Mr. Wentzel in the Narrative of

Captain Franklin's former voyage.

Ooligbuck, who had gone out to hunt, returned in the night. He met an

Indian who had just killed a deer with an arrow, and had tried to

persuade him to come to us; but neither of them understood the other's

language, and the Indian, probably terrified by the sight of an

Esquimaux armed with a gun, presented him with a piece of the deer's

meat, and then made off in an opposite direction. Many of the Hare

Indians abstain from visiting the forts for several years, and it is

possible that this one had not heard of us, or at least had not received

a distinct account of our intention of returning his way, and of our

having an Esquimaux with us. Our Indian friends told us that they did

not know that any of their countrymen were hunting in the direction

which Ooligbuck pointed out.

[Sidenote: Wednesday, 16th.] On the 16th a thick fog prevented us from

quitting our bivouack until seven o'clock, when the Indians led us down

the hill about a mile to the portage road, and we resumed the precise

line of march that we had followed from the Coppermine River, (S. 63

degrees W.) Such of our Highlandmen as had been in the service of the

Hudson's Bay Company, and, consequently knew from experience the

difficulty of travelling through a country without guides, could not

help expressing their surprise at the justness of the course we had

followed. We had not concealed from them, that from want of

observations, or from the difficulty of estimating the distance walked,

we might err a mile or two in our reckoning, so that they were prepared,

on our reaching Bear Lake, to turn a little to the right or left in

search of the river; but they had scarcely hoped to have reached that

point without having to perform a single mile of unnecessary walking.

The portage-road conducted us in a short time to the principal branch of

Dease's River, on the banks of which, at the distance of six miles from

our encampment, we halted to breakfast. The stream there receives

another branch, but it is fordable without difficulty, being nowhere

much above knee-deep. A little way further to the westward, however, it

is less rapid, and forms frequent lake-like expansions. Our march from

last night's encampment was over sandstone rocks, and down a pretty

rapid ascent. The ground was barren in the extreme, except at our

breakfasting place, where there was a convenient clump of wood and a

profusion of whortleberries. Having finished this meal, we resumed the

march, with the intention of halting a few miles further on, that our

Indian friends might rejoin us with their provision, which lay in store

to the southward of our route. We therefore encamped at half past two

o'clock in a pleasant pine clump, and immediately set fire to a tree to

apprize the Indians of our situation. They arrived at sunset, heavily

laden with tongues, fat, and half-dried meat; and M'Leay also killed two

deer after we encamped, so that we revelled in abundance. The length of

the day's journey was fourteen miles, and the estimated distance of the

mouth of Dease's River twenty miles.

[Sidenote: Thursday, 17th.] The provisions obtained from the Indians

being distributed amongst the men, we commenced the march at five

o'clock in the morning, and walked, until the usual breakfasting hour,

over a piece of fine level ground. A range of sandstone hills rose on

our left, and the river ran nearly parallel to our course on the right,

but we walked at the distance of one or two miles from it, to avoid its

windings and the swampy grounds on its borders. Pine-trees grow only in

small detached clumps on its south bank; but the uneven valley, which we

saw spreading for ten or twelve miles to the northward, was well wooded.

The Needagazza Hills, which lie on the north shore of the Bear Lake,

closed the view to the westward. Several columns of smoke were seen to

the westward, and one to the southward; the latter, the Indians informed

us, was made by It-chinnah. We breakfasted on the banks of a small

stream, where the whortleberry bushes were loaded with fruit of a finer

flavour than any we had previously met with. At noon we crossed a hill,

on the summit of which Mr. Kendall had an observation, that placed it in

66 degrees 58 minutes of north latitude. Our route afterwards led us

across several deep ravines close to the river, which there runs by the

base of some lofty cliffs, of light red sandstone, and we pushed on in

great spirits, and at a rapid pace, with the intention of reaching Bear

Lake that evening; but the Indians complaining that they were unable to

keep up with us, we halted at three P.M. Several trees were then set on

fire to apprize It-chinnah and his party of our approach; and, after

supper, I went to the summit of a hill, and readily recognised the

islands in Dease's Bay of Bear Lake, from their peculiar form and

disposition.

[Sidenote: Friday, 18th.] Setting out at three A.M. on the 18th, the

Indians conducted us over a rising ground, covered with white spruces,

to a bay of the Great Bear Lake, about a mile from Dease's River. After

breakfast, our stock of provisions being examined, it was found that we

had two days' allowance remaining. A party was next sent to Dease's

River to make a raft for setting the two nets, and they were also

directed to look for traces of Beaulieu and his party. He had been

ordered by Captain Franklin to leave the fort on the 6th of August, and

to make the best of his way to the rendezvous, where he was to remain to

the 20th of September. The length of his voyage, allowing for two or

three days detention by adverse winds, was not expected to exceed seven

or eight days, nor to be protracted, under any circumstances, beyond ten

or twelve. We had, therefore, reason to suppose that he might have

reached Dease's River by this time. He was fully aware of the

inconvenience that we might experience, should we reach the appointed

spot and find no provisions there; and to stimulate him to make as much

haste as possible, I had promised him a fowling-piece, on condition that

we found him waiting for us on our arrival. Huts were made to sleep in,

and several trees set on fire to point out our position to the Indians

in the neighbourhood.

[Sidenote: Saturday, 19th.] The mossy ground near our encampment caught

fire in the night, and the flames spread so rapidly that we were obliged

on the morning of the 19th, to move to the banks of the river, where we

made new huts. Owing to the loss of a hatchet in driving the stakes,

only one net had been set the preceding evening, and in it we took eight

carp. The raft being made of green wood was not sufficiently buoyant,

and a new one was, therefore, constructed this day of dried timber. The

carp afforded a breakfast for the party, and supper consumed all our

deer's meat, together with a portion of the remainder of the pemmican.

The young Indian went off in the afternoon in quest of It-chinnah's

party. A strong easterly wind blowing all this day, was adverse to

Beaulieu's advance.

[Sidenote: Sunday, 20th.] On Sunday, the 20th, prayers were read, and

thanks returned to the Almighty for his gracious protection and the

success which had attended our voyage. The nets yielding seventeen pike,

carp, and white fish, provided an ample breakfast for the party, and

before supper time the young Indian returned with two of his countrymen,

bringing meat sufficient for three days consumption. Part of it was the

flesh of the musk-ox, which was fat and juicy, but had a high musky

flavour. We had seen none of these animals on our march from the

Coppermine River, although we frequently noticed their foot marks.

Frequent squalls during the day brought much rain, but the huts which we

had made of pine branches kept us dry. We could not but consider

ourselves fortunate in having had no rain in the journey overland, when

there was not sufficient wood to afford us the shelter we now

experienced.

[Sidenote: Monday, 21st.] On the 21st the nets yielded sixteen fish,

which were enough for breakfast. Mr. Kendall crossed the river on a

raft, and went to the top of a hill to the westward to look for

Beaulieu; and, by way of keeping the men employed, I sent M'Leay and

some of our best hunters in quest of deer, and set the carpenter and the

remainder of the party to make oars. Our Indian friends left us to warn

some more of their countrymen, of our situation, and five others arrived

in the evening, bringing meat and large basketfuls of whortleberries.

M'Leay and the other hunters returned without having seen any deer.

[Sidenote: Tuesday, 22nd.] To secure a stock of provision for our

journey to the fort, in the event of any accident preventing the arrival

of the boat, I resolved to send half the party on a distant excursion,

and on the 22nd, Gillet, M'Leay, M'Duffie, M'Lellan, and Ooligbuck, were

despatched to hunt in the neighbourhood of Limestone Point, on the north

shore of the lake, with orders not to extend their excursions beyond

Haldanes River, which falls into the lake about sixty miles to the

westward of Dease River. If they went on to Haldanes River, they were to

set up a mark on Limestone Point, that I might know whether they had

passed or not. They took with them a small supply of provision, and an

Indian guide. In the evening two Indians came with more meat. They were

desirous of being paid with ammunition, which they much needed, but we

had none to give them, and they cheerfully took our notes of hand for

payment, on their arrival at the fort in the winter.

[Sidenote: Wednesday, 23rd.] The 23d day of August having passed away

like the four preceding ones, in anxious expectation of Beaulieu's

arrival, I began to apprehend that some serious accident had happened to

his boat, and to fear that we should be obliged to walk round the Lake

to the Fort. The distance exceeding three hundred miles, we could not

expect to accomplish it in less than three weeks, and not without much

fatigue and suffering, for the men's stock of shoes was nearly

exhausted, their clothing ill adapted for the frosty nights that occur

in September, and deer do not frequent, at this season, much of the

country through which our route lay. I naturally looked forward to such

a march with uneasiness, yet, as the season was drawing to a close, I

determined not to delay setting out beyond the 28th, when I intended to

engage some Indians as guides, and to take with us as much dried meat as

we could carry. The wind blew from the south-west this day, and we were

much tormented by sand-flies.

[Sidenote: Thursday, 24th.] On the evening of the 24th, as we were about

to retire to bed, having given up all hopes of Beaulieu's arrival that

day, we heard people talking in the direction of the mouth of the river,

and soon afterwards saw a boat and several canoes. A musket being fired

to show them our position, they steered for the encampment, and landed

opposite to the huts. They proved to be Beaulieu's party, consisting of

four Canadians, four Chipewyan hunters, and ten Dog-Ribs, which, with

their wives and children, amounted to about thirty in all. We learnt

from Beaulieu, that he had been sent off from the Fort by Mr. Dease, on

the 6th, with strict injunctions to proceed to the rendezvous with his

utmost speed; but he pleaded the badness of the weather and the adverse

winds as the cause of his delay. He had not seen the five men I sent off

on the 22d, though he had noticed a fire in a bay near Limestone Point,

which I had no doubt was made by them; I therefore embarked directly to

rejoin them at that place, accompanied by Mr. Kendall and the remainder

of our party, two of the Canadians, and an Indian named the Babillard;

directing Beaulieu to stay at the huts until he heard from us again. We

rowed all night, and soon after day-break reached the spot where the

fire had been made, but found no marks to indicate which way our men had

gone: neither was there any mark at Limestone Point; I therefore caused

a large fire to be made at the latter place, and remained there the

whole day.

[Sidenote: Saturday, 26th.] Our people not appearing on the 26th, I

returned in the boat to Dease River, leaving Mr. Kendall and the

Babillard at Limestone Point. Beaulieu had seen nothing of the

absentees, and it was therefore evident that they had gone on to Haldane

River, whither I resolved to proceed in search of them; but that they

might not suffer from want of food, if by any chance we missed them, I

directed Beaulieu's party to remain where they were, until I sent them

permission to depart by two Canadians, whom I took with me on purpose in

a small canoe. Mr. Dease had directed Beaulieu to go to M'Tavish Bay to

hunt deer, and dry meat for the fort, as soon as we arrived; and as the

boat was well adapted for carrying dried provision, I now exchanged it

with his north canoe.

[Sidenote: Sunday, 27th.] We rejoined Mr. Kendall at Limestone Point at

day-break on the morning of the 27th, and afterwards paddled along the

coast until two P.M., when a strong head-wind obliged us to put ashore.

As soon as we landed, I set out with the Babillard for Haldane River,

carrying a small quantity of pemmican, lest the people should be in want

of food; and after a walk, or rather a run, of five miles, I had the

happiness of finding them all well, and with plenty of provisions, as

they had killed six deer. Their Indian guide had taken them a little

inland, by which they had missed Limestone Point; but they were very

sorry it had so happened, when they learned the anxiety they had

occasioned to Mr. Kendall and myself, by their not erecting the mark

there as they had been directed to do. The wind moderating after sunset,

Mr. Kendall joined us with the two canoes, so that the party was again

happily reunited. [Sidenote: Monday, 28th.] On Monday the 28th, I sent

back the small canoe with the Babillard and two Canadians, to join

Beaulieu, and proceed with the rest of the party in the larger canoe to

Fort Franklin, where we arrived on Friday, the 1st of September, and

received a warm welcome from Mr. Dease, after an absence of seventy-one

days, during which period we had travelled by land and water one

thousand seven hundred and nine geographical, or nineteen hundred and

eighty statute miles.

Having now brought the Narrative of the proceedings of the Eastern

Detachment to a conclusion, the pleasing duty remains of expressing my

gratitude to the party for their cheerful and obedient conduct. Not a

murmur of discontent was heard throughout the voyage, but every

individual engaged with alacrity in the laborious tasks he was called

upon to perform. Where all behaved with the greatest zeal, it would be

invidious to particularize any; and I am happy in having it in my power

to add, that since our return to England, Gillet, Fuller and Tysoe, who

were in His Majesty's service previous to their being employed on the

Expedition, have been rewarded by promotion. Our good-natured and

faithful Esquimaux friend Ooligbuck, carried with him to his native

lands the warmest wishes and esteem of the whole party. His attachment

to us was never doubtful, even when we were surrounded by a tribe of his

own nation.

The general abilities and professional skill of my companion, Lieutenant

Kendall, are duly appreciated in higher quarters, and can derive little

lustre from any eulogium from me; but I cannot deny myself the

gratification of recording my deep sense of the good fortune and

happiness I experienced in being associated with a gentleman of such

pleasing manners, and one upon whose friendly support and sound judgment

I could with confidence rely, on occasions of difficulty and doubt

inseparable from such a voyage.

_End of Dr. Richardson's Narrative of the Proceedings of the Eastern

Detachment._

_TABLE of the distances travelled by both Branches of the Expedition,

and of the extent of their Discoveries in 1827._

BY THE WESTERN PARTY. _Statute Miles._

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From Fort Franklin, by Fort Norman, to Point Separation (river

course) 525

Point Separation to Pillage Point, at the Mouth of the Mackenzie 129

Pillage Point to Return reef (sea-voyage out) 374

Return Reef, back to Fort Franklin, including Peel River 1020

----

Distance travelled by the Western Party in July, August,

September, 1826. 2048

BY THE EASTERN PARTY.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From Fort Franklin to Point Separation, along with the western

party 525

Point Separation to Point Encounter (river course.) 159

Encounter to the Coppermine River (sea-voyage[14]) 863

The mouth of the Coppermine, over land to Fort Franklin 433

----

Distance travelled by the Eastern Party in July and

August, 1826 1980

EXTENT OF THE DISCOVERIES OF THE WESTERN PARTY IN 1826.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From Point Separation to the mouth of the Mackenzie, by a western

branch, not previously known 129

Pillage Point by the sea-coast to Point Beechey, which was

seen from Return Reef 391

Peel River and a branch of the Mackenzie surveyed for the first

time, on the return 90

----

610

EXTENT OF THE DISCOVERIES OF THE EASTERN PARTY IN 1826.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From Sacred Island to Point Encounter, being a portion of the

river lying to the eastward of Mackenzie's route 37

Point Encounter, along the coast to the Coppermine River 863

The Copper Mountains, overland to Bear Lake 115

----

1015

_TABLE of Times of High Water, reduced to Full and Change, by E.N.

Kendall, Lieutenant, R.N._

Geographic Times of High Water. Winds.

Position.

Reduced

Names of Places Lat Lon. to full Direction.

Date. of Observations. N. W. Observed & change. Force.