canvas used for wrapping up the bedding, over a frame work of willows. Pitch was gathered from the small pines to pay the seams and a frail bark was thus constructed, which to the joy of all was found to float. One by one the whole party was carried across the river, though from the leaky condition of the little bark, their garments and bedding were completely drenched. The joy of the Canadians knew no bounds at this unlooked for deliverance, and their spirits rose from the deepest despondency into tumultuous exultation. Mr. Back was now dispatched with three men to Fort Enterprize in search of the Indians. After drying their bed-clothes and tents, the remainder of the party again moved on. Six miles only were accomplished this day against a piercing wind and drifts of snow, and a few shreds of tripe de roche mixed with the remains of their old leather shoes, boiled or roasted, formed their evening meal. The following day two of their best hunters gave out and fell behind, and the stoutest men were unable to bring them to their evening's fire and encampment. Matters had now reached a dreadful crisis, and the only alternative seemed to be that Mr. Hood and Dr. Richardson, with a single attendant, should remain with the two Canadians where there was a supply of wood and ten days' stock of tripe de roche, and that Captain Franklin with the remainder of the party should hasten to Fort Enterprize for relief.

The next day Franklin proceeded on his journey, leaving every thing but a single tent, their ammunition, journals, and a blanket for himself. After a march of but five miles they encamped, supping on an infusion of the Labrador tea plant and a few morsels of burnt leather. The following day four other men, among them the strongest of the party, gave out and endeavored to retrace their steps to the spot where Richardson and the others were left. The whole party able to proceed now consisted of Captain Franklin and five men, who pushed forward and succeeded in reaching Fort Enterprize.

It was here they had passed the previous winter, and arrangements had been made to have a stock of provisions and other necessary comforts provided for them on their arrival at this time. They expected therefore to find the Indian hunters here, an abun

dance of game, a stock of fuel and a comfortable house. "On approaching the house their minds were strongly agitated betwixt hope and fear, and contrary to their usual custom, they advanced in silence. At length they reached it, and their worst apprehensions were realized. It was completely destitute. No provisions had been deposited,-no trace of Indians could be discovered- -no letter told them where they could be found. On entering a mute despair seized the party. They gazed on the cold hearth, comfortless walls, and broken sashes, through which the wind and snow penetrated, and, awakening to a full sense of their situation burst into tears." note, however, was found from Mr. Back, stating, that he had reached here two days before-that his party had endured great suffering, and one of them had been frozen to death. That they had gone on to Fort Providence, which it was doubtful they

should ever be able to reach.

A

The sufferers thus disappointed, looked about for some means of subsistence, and found several deer skins thrown away during their former residence at this place, as well as a quantity of bones. Of these they made soup. They next made their house as comfortable as possible with loose boards, for the temperature of the outer air was from 15° to 200 below zero.

Captain Franklin was desirous to proceed to Fort Providence with his five men, but two had become so feeble that they were unable to move, He therefore left them, and with the remaining two determined to press on in the hopes of meeting some Indians and sending relief to his suffering party. The second day out he fell between two rocks and broke his snow shoes, which compelled him to abandon his journey and retrace his steps to Fort Enterprize. The two men were directed to press forward to Fort Providence for a supply of meat as the only means of saving the lives of the party left behind.

On his return to Fort Enterprize, Franklin found two of the men left there so weak that they could not leave their bed, so that the whole labor of procuring tripe de roche and cooking it, as well as the collecting and carrying fuel, fell upon him and the remaining Canadian. The frost was now so severe too, that the lichen could only be detached from the rocks to which it ad

long and five feet four inches broad, and adapted for six rowers, a steersman and an officer, could be easily carried on the shoulders of six men. Their boats were shipped direct to York Factory and thence across the country, through the various rivers and small lakes, to await Captain Franklin at Methye River. Every man in the party was provided with water-proof dresses, and all that could add to their comfort and ensure the safety of the expedition, was procured.

The expedition sailed from Liverpool on the 16th of February 1825,-passed through New York, Albany and the great lakes to Lake Superior; thence through the Lake of the Woods and Lake Winnepeg to the Methye River where they overtook their boats on the 29th June. The season had so far advanced before they reached Mackenzie River that they determined to pospone the great expedition till the ensuing summer. They accordingly established their winter quarters on the banks of Great Bear Lake, by erecting substantial houses which they called Fort Franklin. Lieutenant Back, a young officer, who accompanied Franklin in his first expedition, superintended the arrangements here, while Captain Franklin determined to descend Mackenzie River, take a view of the Polar Sea, and return before the winter set in. This voyage he performed without difficulty and returned to his winter quarters on the 5th September. Dr. Richardson returned at the same time from some eastern explorations. In the meantime the Canadians and Indians were occupied in hunting and fishing, by which means abundant stores of provisions were secured for their winter's use.

The daily product of the nets during the autumn was eight hundred herring-salmon. A supply of fuel was also collected and piled up for use. The prospect before them was, therefore, very different from that which they had experienced in their previous winter residence in these regions. Nothing of importance occurred during their long winter. The officers instructed the men in reading, writing, and arithmetic during the long evenings, and divine service was held on Sunday, which was always kept as a day of rest.

On the 28th June the party embarked

VOL. V. NO. VI. NEW SERIES.

on the Mackenzie River. On the 4th July Capt. Franklin took the western channel where the river branched off towards its mouth, while Dr. Richardson took the eastern branch with his party. Large numbers of Esquimaux were met at the river's mouth with whom Franklin had a difficulty. They plundered some of his boats, and the quarrel would have terminated in bloodshed, had it not been for his great forbearance. The Esquimaux interpreter made a speech to his countrymen, in which he made known the great love which the white people had for them, which induced them to return much of the plundered property, and exacted a promise from them to behave better in future. The Esquimaux apologized by saying that "they had never seen white men before, and all the things in the boats were so very beautiful and desirable, that it was impossible not to steal them." The expedition proceeded along the shore of the Polar Sea with some interruption from the ice and fogs until the 16th August, when they had reached 150° W longitude, or about one half the distance from Mackenzie

had now

River to Icy Cape. A perceptible change taken place in the weather. Vegetation assumed an autumnal aspect, · and ice began to form at night on the pools of fresh water. The Esquimaux lately so numerous had ceased to appear; the deer were hastening from the coast, and the migratory birds were winging their way to more genial climes. It was, therefore, resolved to return. Accordingly, on the 18th August the boats began their Voyage eastward to Mackenzie River, which they reached without accident on the 4th September; and proceeding at once up that river, arrived in safety at Fort Franklin, where Dr. Richardson arrived a few days before.

Dr. Richardson in his exploration of the Polar Sea eastward from Mackenzie River met with no obstacles to retard his progress, and was enabled to accomplish his voyage to the Coppermine River, a distance of 500 miles, between the 4th July and the 8th of August. He then proceeded up that river and reached the winter quarters of the party on the 1st of September. After a winter spent at Fort Franklin the expedition, in the following summer, returned by the usual route to England.

38

To co-operate with Parry and Franklin, it was determined by the British government to send an expedition to Behring's Strait. Capt. F. W. Beechey in the Blossom, a 24 gun ship, was destined for this service, and sailed from England on the 19th of May, 1825. A boat to be used as a tender, built as large as could be carried on the deck of the ship, was taken out. She was schooner rigged, decked, and fitted out in the best manner.

On the 22d July 1826, which was as early as it was desirable to be in the Polar Sea, Captain Beechey anchored in Kotzebue Sound, after surveying a portion of which, he proceeded to Chamisso Island, where he was directed to await Captain Franklin. Leaving the barge for the purpose of following the coast, he proceeded northward with his ship and passed Icy Cape. On the 17th of August, as the channel between the ice and the shore was not wide enough to trust his ship farther, he despatched the barge under the command of Mr. Elson to trace the shore as far eastward as possible. The barge proceeded as far as a prominent headland which was called Cape Barrow. This point, the most northerly part of the American continent yet formed the terminus to a spit of land discovered jutting out several miles from the regular coast line. It was

The

now late in the season, and prudence dictated to the party that it was unsafe to proceed farther, as there was danger that the ice might close in upon them and prevent their escape. They therefore began a retreat towards their rendezvous, at Chamisso Island, which they reached on the 9th September not without difficulty, having been "thickly beset with ice, that threatened every moment to close with its impenetraable walls and cut off their return." result of this voyage was the addition of an extensive line of coast to our Polar geography; and a comparison of notes shewed that but 146 miles intervened between the expedition of Captains Beechey and Franklin, who were on this coast at the same time. Captain Franklin afterwards asserted, that had he "been aware of the fact of his near proximity to the barge of the Blossom, no difficulties or dangers would have prevailed on him to return." It was the great object of his ambition to reach Icy Cape, and he doubtless would have accomplished it, or perished in the attempt.

The following year, Captain Beechey returned to the Arctic Sea, and endeavored to extend his survey beyond the point attained by him in 1826; but the severity of the weather obliged him to return before he had reached Icy Cape.

IN 1828, Captain John Ross whose name appears first among those who attempted to discover a North West Passage, and whose mistake in passing Lancaster Sound, lost to him the honor and renown which were gained by his successor Captain Parry, felt ambitious to resume the undertaking and make another effort to make this passage. He proposed to government a plan to explore the Polar Sea, with a steam vessel, but they were tired with an enterprise which had lost its novelty, and determined to send out no more expeditions

late Arctic voyages. 22 men and an officer completed the party. With these he put to sea on the 7th of June, and on the 28th of July found himself off Disco Island. Their steam-engine proved a failure, for in the few instances in which they used it it did not propel her but a mile and a half an hour. On the 6th of August they entered Lancaster Sound, and with a favorable wind, two days after, reached the opposite shore of Prince Regent's Inlet on the 11th. Steering southward they came to the place where Captain Parry's ship, the Fury, was abandoned. Her stores they found in excellent condition, but every vestige of the ship had been carried away by the ice. After taking an abundant supply of provisions and coal, they worked their way slowly on, obliged to steer by the wind and sun; for the near proximity to the magnetic pole had rendered their compass useless. Enveloped in fogs, and surrounded by icebergs, their progress was full of difficulties and dangers, yet they forced on their little barque, and during the months of August and September had traced 300 miles of coast previously unknown, attaining a position within 280 miles of Franklin's Point Turnagain. By the end of September the snow fell thick; the thermometer sunk below the freezing point; huge masses of ice hemmed them in on every side, and on the 7th of October they went into winter quarters.

The usual preparations were now made for the winter; banks of snow were raised around the ship, and a roof of canvas placed on her. Her stoves kept up a temperature of 45° during the coldest weather, which was quite warm enough for health.

A party of Esquimaux took up their quarters near the ship, and a friendly intercourse was kept up between them. Some of these people exhibited much geographical knowledge, tracing out on paper the line of the coast for a great distance with remarkable accuracy. On speaking to them of the places visited by Captain Parry about Repulse Bay, they at once recognised them, and stated that they had lately been there. Captain Ross was unable to learn whether any passage existed to the Westward, though he was told that a great sea lay in that direction, which proved to be the case. They were after

wards told by the most intelligent natives that a passage existed far to the North, which was doubtless Barrow's Strait.

Several parties left the ship in April and May to explore the adjacent shores, accompanied by the Esquimaux as guides. The most important of these was one under the younger Ross, who, crossing the isthmus of Boothia reached the sea, the shores of which he traced to a point about 200 miles from the ship. The shore trended westward in the direction of Point Turnagain, but his stock of provisions would not permit him to reach it. He therefore, was compelled to return, reaching the ship on the 13th May, after an absence of 27 days.

Summer now came; the ice and snow melted with great rapidity; the country was inundated with water, and the surface of the ocean could not be traversed. All the efforts of the crew were directed to the extrication of the vessel. "But month after month rolled on; the height of summer passed, and the sea still remained bound in icy chains." August passed away and left them fixed to the same dreary spot where they had been for eleven months. On the 17th of September, "with a transport of joy, they found themselves free," and the gallant ship again moved forward about three miles, when her farther progress was arrested by a ridge of ice. The following day there was a heavy fall of snow, and in the evening a gale sprang up from the North, which continuing for three days, brought with it a crowd of floating ice and huge icebergs, crowding the whole together with the ship, towards the shore. A few days after they were frozen up and the sea presented an unbroken surface of ice. "It was," says Captain Ross' "as if the northern ocean were sending all its stores into this quarter," and then wedging them as firmly into the bay as the rocks themselves.

They were now frozen up for a second winter, and it was found necessary to lessen the usual allowance of provisions. Enough, however, was given to keep the men in health and vigour, which they preserved uninterruptedly during the season. It was, nevertheless, a dreary one, "the monotony of their situation pressing upon them with increasing severity."

In the spring, exploring parties were