Narrative of a Second Expedition to the Shores of the Polar Sea Part 10

The vicinity of Point Toker, like the rest of the lands to the eastward of Point Encounter, consists of level sands, inclosing pieces of water which communicate with the estuary of the river, and interspersed with detached conical hills rising from one to two hundred feet above the general level. These hills are sometimes escarped by the action of the water, and are then seen to consist of sand of various colours, in which very large logs of drift-timber are imbedded. They are covered by a coat of black vegetable earth, from six inches to a foot in thickness, which shows that they cannot be of very recent formation, though at some distant period they may have been formed by the drifting of moveable sands. At present, the highest floods reach only to the foot of the hills, where they deposit a thick layer of drift-timber. One straight log of spruce fir, thirty feet long, was seven feet in circ.u.mference at the small end, and twelve a short distance above the root. The branches and bark are almost always rubbed off from the drift-timber which reaches the sea, but a few of the main divisions of the root are generally left. Various instruments tied up in bundles were suspended to poles near some of the Esquimaux houses, such as spear-heads and ice chisels made from the tooth of the narwhal, and spoons of musk-ox horn.

The marine animals that frequent this part of the coast, according to the information we obtained from the Esquimaux, are, the white whale, the narwhal, large and small seals, (_oggoe-ook_ and _nat-choe-ook_,) and a species of black whale, named _aggee-woerk_. There are also many sea-fish, of which the capeline (_ang-mag-goe-ook_,) that abound on the shoals at this season, are most easily caught. The natives are unacquainted with sea-horses. Swans, Canada and white geese, and Arctic ducks, are numerous, and we killed several. Ooligbuck likewise killed a rein-deer, which afforded us an agreeable change of diet.

In the evening, having a.s.sembled in one of the tents, prayers were read, a practice to which we adhered on every Sunday evening during the voyage. At 10h. 45m. P.M., I lighted a piece of touchwood with a convex lens, an inch in diameter, the alt.i.tude of the sun being then 3 degrees 6 minutes. It is seldom that the sun in warmer climates affords so much heat at so low an alt.i.tude.

[Sidenote: Monday, 10th.] The ice opening a little, we resumed the voyage at five o'clock in the morning of the 10th, but had not rowed above five miles, when our further progress was impeded by a ridge of grounded-ice, extending apparently far out to sea. We landed to obtain a view from a height, and took advantage of the opportunity to prepare breakfast. Whilst thus engaged, we discovered, on the opposite side of a bay which we had just crossed, two of the natives couched upon the sand, and evidently watching us; but before we had concluded our meal, they went off. On re-embarking, we went round the ice which was aground on extensive sandy spits, and then pulled in for the sh.o.r.e; but a fresh breeze of wind created such a swell, that we did not advance above three miles in two hours. Deeming it unadvisable to fatigue the crews, while the progress was so small, we pulled into a sandy bay, and made the boats fast to one of many large pieces of ice which were stranded on the beach, having gained since setting out in the morning, eight miles.

Just as we made for the sh.o.r.e, we observed three Esquimaux regarding us from an eminence, and two others soon afterwards joined them: the latter being, as we discovered from the direction of their path over the sands, the two we had seen at breakfast-time. They retired as we drew near the beach, and on reconnoitring the neighbourhood, we discovered three skin-tents, whose owners were running off with their effects in great alarm. As we had experienced how troublesome the natives were, when relieved from their fears, we did not seek an interview at this time; and to guard against accidents from parties of them way-laying our men, I determined that, while we remained in this anchorage, the crews should land only to cook their provisions and then be accompanied either by Mr.

Kendall or myself. The water at our anchorage was decidedly brackish, the beach was strewed with _sertulariae_ and other marine productions, and several white whales were seen in the offing; all which circ.u.mstances being considered as decided evidences of our having reached the mouth of the river, that event was celebrated by issuing to each of the men a gla.s.s of grog, which had been reserved for the occasion.

FOOTNOTES:

[4] As the reader may desire to know what hieroglyphics were used to express our intentions, a copy of the letter is annexed.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

[5] Robertson's _History of America_.

[6] _Harmon's Journal_, p. 288.

[7] The Esquimaux method of settling disputes, which we learned from Augustus, deserves to be mentioned, not only as being very different from the sullen conduct of an affronted Indian, but from its coincidence with the practice of a people widely separated from them--the native inhabitants of Sydney, in New South Wales. Mr. Cunningham, in his entertaining work on New South Wales, says, "The common practice of fighting amongst the natives is still with the _waddie_, each alternately stooping the head to receive the other's blows, until one tumbles down, it being considered cowardly to evade a stroke." The Esquimaux use the fist instead of the waddie, in these singular duels, but there is no other difference betwixt their practice and that of the New South Wales' people. Another coincidence betwixt the Esquimaux and the inhabitants of Australasia, is the use of the throwing stick for discharging their spears.

CONTINUATION OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE EASTERN DETACHMENT.

CHAPTER II.

Detention by wind--Visited by Esquimaux--Cross a large Stream of fresh Water--Winter Houses on Atkinson Island--Gale of Wind, and Fog--Run into Browell Cove--Double Cape Dalhousie--Liverpool Bay and Esquimaux Lake--Icy Cliffs--Meet another Party of Esquimaux--Cape Bathurst.

[Sidenote: Tuesday, 11th.] The wind blew so strongly during the 11th, that we remained in our mooring-place, landing occasionally to take a little exercise on the beach; and as it continued to freshen from the north-east in the evening, most of the ice in the offing had drifted out of sight, while a great reduction took place at the same time in the number and size of the pieces of stranded ice. One of them which had grounded about a mile outside of us, and rose fifteen feet above the water, fell over and floated away with the ebb tide. Mr. Kendall obtained a meridian observation for lat.i.tude, and afterwards took several sets of lunar distances, whose results placed our anchorage in lat.i.tude 69 degrees 42-1/2 minutes N., and longitude 131 degrees 58 minutes W. In the afternoon two Esquimaux were seen walking fast over a hill, and often stopping and looking anxiously around them. About midnight two black foxes carried off the sc.r.a.ps of meat that had been left at our cooking-place, and buried them carefully in the sand above high-water mark. We observed that they dug separate hiding-places for each piece, and that they were careful to carry the largest bits farthest from the sea. The time spent inactively at the anchorage was so irksome, that even the movements of these animals were a subject of much interest to us, and we felt great regret when they were scared away by the talking of the men in the boats.

[Sidenote: Wednesday, 12th.] No material alteration took place in the weather on the 12th. The temperature was 45 degrees; but from the force of the wind, and our confinement in the boats, we felt cold. In the evening two elderly Esquimaux came to us in their kaiyacks, shouting as they approached the boats, and paddling boldly alongside. They told us that they were the same two whom we had seen in the morning of the 10th watching us while at breakfast, though they had first discovered us on the 9th, and had seen Ooligbuck kill the deer, which had alarmed them greatly; they had since been to inquire about us from the party at Point Encounter, and having learnt that we were well-disposed, they had come to open a communication. In allusion, I suppose, to the attempt on the Union, they often said that the Esquimaux at the river's mouth were bad people, but that they themselves were good-hearted men; and they struck their b.r.e.a.s.t.s forcibly with their hands, to give energy to their a.s.surances. They told us that a large party of their countrymen, who were at present fis.h.i.+ng at the mouth of a river to the eastward, would soon move in this direction to kill white whales. Eetkoo-yak, the princ.i.p.al spokesman, invited us to go to his tents, where he said, the women would be glad to receive us; and added, that next day he would bring four of his countrymen to visit us. We made them a handsome present of iron-work; and having paid, with beads, for some dried fish, sent them away highly contented.

[Sidenote: Thursday, 13th.] At seven o'clock in the morning of the 13th, nine Esquimaux came to us, amongst whom were our two acquaintances of yesterday. Some of the young men inquired when we were going away, and seemed to be anxious that we should depart; but our friend Eetkoo-yak gave us a pressing invitation to his tents, and wished to embark in the boats to conduct us thither. We declined his proposal, and the wind having moderated, we unmoored the boats, and rowed along the coast. The natives followed us, and soon afterwards four women and two boys came off in an oomiak, and exchanged some boots, pieces of leather, deer's meat, and fish for beads. The point on which their tents were pitched was named Point Warren after my friend Captain Samuel Warren, R.N. As we continued our course the oomiak returned to the sh.o.r.e, and the men also left us soon afterwards, apparently pleased with our departure; for the knowledge of the effect of our muskets seemed to have impressed them with some dread. They were tattooed across the cheeks. The tribes to the westward of the Mackenzie are described by Captain Franklin, (p. 111,) as following a different fas.h.i.+on in the application of this ornament.

We coasted this day a flat sh.o.r.e, with dry sands running off to the distance of two or three miles, and we pa.s.sed within several shoals, on which some heavy ice had grounded. Only a few small streams of ice were seen, although the ice-blink was visible the whole day. Soon after rounding Point Warren, we crossed the mouth of a large river, the water being muddy and fresh for a breadth of three miles, and the sounding lead was let down to the depth of five fathoms, without striking the bottom. This river is, perhaps, a branch of the Mackenzie, and falls into a bay, on which I have bestowed the name of my esteemed friend Copland Hutchinson, Esq. Surgeon Extraordinary to His Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence. On its east side there is an island, which was named after Captain Charles Phillips, R.N. to whom the nautical world is indebted for the double-capstan, and many other important inventions.

At five o'clock in the afternoon, rainy weather setting in, we made for a small island, and mooring the boats as near the beach as we could, covered them up, and landed to prepare supper. The length of the day's voyage was twenty-eight miles and a half. Mr. Kendall named the island in honour of Mr. Atkinson, of Berry-House; it is situated in lat.i.tude 69 degrees 55 minutes N., longitude 130 degrees 43 minutes W., and is separated from a flat, and occasionally inundated sh.o.r.e, by a narrow creek. It is bounded towards the sea by a bulwark of sand-hills, drifted by the wind to the height of 30 feet. Under their shelter 17 winter-houses have been erected by the natives besides a large building which from its structure, seemed to be intended for a place of a.s.sembly for the tribe. Ooligbuck thought it was a general eating-room, but he was not certain, as his tribe erect no such buildings.

I annex a section and ground plan of one of the largest of the dwelling-houses. The centre (A) is a square of ten feet, having a level flooring, with a post at each corner (D,D) to support the ridge-poles,[8] on which the roof rests. The recesses (B) are intended for sleeping-places. Their floors have a gentle inclination inwards, and are raised a foot above the central flooring. Their back walls are a foot high, and incline outwards like the back of a chair. The ridge-poles are six feet above the floor, the roof being flat in the centre, and sloping over the recesses. The inside of the building is lined with split-wood, and the outside is strongly but roughly built of logs, the whole being covered with earth. An inclined platform (C) forms the ascent to the door, which is in the middle of one of the recesses, and is four feet high; and the threshold, being on a level with the central flooring, is raised three feet above the surrounding ground, to guard against inundations. There is a square hole in the roof, near the door, intended for ventilation, or for an occasional entrance. As we observed no fire-places in these dwellings, it is probable that they are heated, and the cookery performed in the winter, with lamps. Some of the houses were built front to front, with a very narrow pa.s.sage between them leading to the doors, which were opposite to each other. This pa.s.sage must form a snug porch in the winter when it is covered with slabs of frozen snow, and one end stopped up. Some of the larger houses which stood single, had log-porches to shelter their doors; and near each house there was a square or oblong pit, four feet beneath the surface of the ground, lined and covered with drift timber, which was evidently intended for a store-house.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

The large building for an a.s.sembly-room was, in the interior, a square of 27 feet, having the log-roof supported on two strong ridge poles, two feet apart, and resting on four upright posts. The floor in the centre, formed of split logs, dressed and laid with great care, was surrounded by a raised border about three feet wide, which was, no doubt, meant for seats. The walls, three feet high, were inclined outwards, for the convenience of leaning the back against them, and the ascent to the door, which was on the south side was formed of logs. The outside, covered with earth, had nearly a hemispherical form, and round its base there were ranged the skulls of 21 whales. There was a square hole in the roof, and the central log of the floor had a basin-shaped cavity, one foot in diameter, which was, perhaps, intended for a lamp. The general attention to comfort in the construction of the village, and the erection of a building of such magnitude, requiring a union of purpose in a considerable number of people, are evidences of no small progress towards civilization. Whale skulls were confined to the large building, and to one of the dwelling-houses, which had 3 or 4 placed round it.

Many wooden trays, and hand-barrows for carrying whale blubber, were lying on the ground, most of them in a state of decay.

Myriads of musquitoes, which reposed among the gra.s.s, rose in clouds when disturbed, and gave us much annoyance. Many snow birds were hatching on the Point, and we saw swans, Canada geese, eider, king, arctic, and surf ducks; several glaucous, silvery, black-headed, and ivory gulls, together with terns and northern divers. Some laughing geese pa.s.sed to the northward in the evening, which may be considered as a sure indication of land in that direction. The sea-water at Atkinson Island being quite salt, and the ponds on the sh.o.r.e brackish, we had recourse to the ice that lay aground for a supply of fresh water. Strong gales of wind, with heavy rain, continued all night.

[Sidenote: Friday, 14th.] The rain ceasing at four o'clock in the morning of the 14th, we embarked, and pulled along a sandy bar which projected five or six miles from Atkinson Island, and was covered by ma.s.ses of ice. We had not left the beach above an hour, when a thick fog hid the land from our view, and a noise of breakers being at the same time heard, we deemed it prudent to moor the boats to a piece of grounded ice, and wait for clear weather. After a time, the fog dispersing partially, we made sail before a fresh breeze towards the most easterly point of land in sight, but we had not advanced above five or six miles before the looming of the sh.o.r.e on the larboard bow made it necessary to haul to the wind; and the fog becoming as dense as ever, we ran aground on some flats, where the surf nearly filled the boats. On lowering the sails, deeper water was attained, but the wind began to blow hard directly upon the sh.o.r.e, and we could not discover a landing-place, nor did we even know our distance from the beach. In this dilemma we saw a long line of floating sea-weed, and Ooligbuck suggesting that it came from the mouth of a river, we followed its direction, and, with the aid of the sounding lead, groped our way betwixt two shoals into a well sheltered inlet. Here there was a good landing-place, and we deemed ourselves peculiarly fortunate in reaching so snug a harbour, for the fog continued all day, and the wind increased to a heavy gale.

The inlet was named Browell Cove, in honour of the Lieutenant-Governor of the Royal Hospital at Greenwich, and the bay to the westward of it, M'Kinley Bay, out of respect to Captain George M'Kinley, of the Naval Asylum. The lat.i.tude of the mouth of Browell Cove is 70 degrees N., and the longitude 130 degrees 19 minutes W. We did not ascertain its extent, but as its water is brackish, it probably communicates with Esquimaux Lake, which, according to Indian report, lies behind the islands that form this part of the coast. Several large basins of salt water communicate with the cove. Some herds of deer were seen, but too many hunters going in pursuit of them they were frightened away. The temperature throughout the day was 42 degrees.

I observed forty species of plants in flower here, of which nearly one-third were gra.s.ses and carices. The Thrift common on the sandy parts of the British coast is a frequent ornament of Browell Cove; and seven or eight of the other plants seen there, are natives of the Scottish hills. Two dwarf species of willows were the only shrubs.

[Sidenote: Sat.u.r.day, 15th.] The fog clearing away, and the wind moderating, we embarked about three in the morning of the 15th; and steering along the coast, came to a group of low sandy islands, that were separated by wide but very shallow channels, and skirted, to the distance of five or six miles, by sand-banks, which were nearly dry at low water. In rounding these banks our soundings varied from two feet to two fathoms, and we were occasionally led almost out of sight of the land. During the whole day we saw much ice to seaward, and in some places it was so closely packed as to render it doubtful whether a s.h.i.+p would have been able to make way through it. The line of deep water was marked by large ma.s.ses of ice lying aground, and was about ten miles from the sh.o.r.e. As we could not reach the beach, we disembarked upon a piece of ice at noon, and cutting up a spare seat for fire-wood, proceeded to cook our breakfast, and make observations for lat.i.tude and magnetic variation.

After rounding the shoals, we made a traverse of ten miles across an inlet, where the water ran out with a strong current; and, though five fathoms deep, it was nearly fresh. This I supposed to be another communication betwixt Esquimaux Lake and the sea, and named it Russel Inlet, after the distinguished Professor of Clinical Surgery in the University of Edinburgh. The land on its western side was called Cape Brown, out of respect to the eminent botanist, whose scientific researches reflect so much credit on British talent; and that to the eastward of the inlet received the name of Dalhousie, in honour of His Excellency the Governor-in-Chief of the Canadas. Cape Dalhousie consists of a number of high, sandy islands, resembling those seen from Sacred Island, in the mouth of the Mackenzie. We entered some deep inlets amongst them, in search of a landing-place, but the beach was every where too flat. At length, after dragging the boats through the mud for a considerable way, and carrying the cargoes for a quarter of a mile over a flat sand, we reached the sh.o.r.e, and pitched the tents. The island on which we encamped was similar to the others, being from one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet high above the water, and bounded on all sides by steep, sandy cliffs, which were skirted by flat sands.

From the summit of the island we had the unpleasant view of a sea covered with floating ice, as far as the eye could reach to the eastward. Temperature during the greater part of the day 55 degrees; at nine P.M. 52 degrees. Wind easterly. The length of this day's voyage was thirty miles and a half; the lat.i.tude of the encampment 70 degrees 12 minutes, and longitude 129 degrees 21 minutes W.

[Sidenote: Sunday, 16th.] On the 16th the boats were afloat, and loaded by seven in the morning, when we pulled round Cape Dalhousie, and found the land trending as we wished to the south-east. Since reaching the sea, the coast had gradually inclined to the northward, which with the increased quant.i.ty of ice seen on the two or three last days, led us to fear that a cape might exist, extending so far to the northward, as to prevent us from reaching the Coppermine River within the period to which our voyage was limited. It was, therefore, with peculiar satisfaction, that, on putting ash.o.r.e to cook breakfast, we saw distant land to the S.E., apparently of greater height than that which we had recently coasted; and we now flattered ourselves that we were about to leave behind us the low coasts and shoals, which render the boat navigation across the mouths of the Mackenzie and Esquimaux Lake so perplexing and hazardous. Many deer were seen at our breakfasting-place, and the musquitoes annoyed them so much that there would have been no difficulty in approaching them, if we could have spared time to send out the hunters.

Having obtained an observation for lat.i.tude, we directed our course to a projecting point across an inlet, with no land visible towards its bottom. The soundings in the middle of the opening exceeded nine fathoms; the water became less salt as we advanced, and at last could only be termed brackish. The point proved to be an Island sixteen miles distant from our breakfasting-place; and as we approached it, we had the mortification to perceive a coast seven or eight miles beyond it, apparently continuous, and trending away to the north-north-west. The island was named Nicholson Island, as a mark of my esteem for William Nicholson, Esq., of Rochester. It is bounded by high cliffs of sand and mud, and rises in the interior to the height of four hundred feet above the sea. The cliffs were thawed to the depth of three feet, but frozen underneath, and the water issuing from the thawing ground caused the mud to boil out and flow down the banks. There were many small lakes on the island, and a tolerably good vegetation. Amongst other plants I gathered here a very beautiful American cowslip, (_dodecatheon_,) which grew in the moist valleys. From the summit of the island a piece of water, resembling a large river, and bearing south, was seen winding through a country pleasantly varied by gently swelling hills and dales, and differing so much in character from the alluvial islands we had just left, that I thought myself justified in considering it to be part of the main land. From S.W. to W.N.W. open water was seen, broken only by a few islands, that were named after Major-General Campbell, of the Royal Marines. This large sheet of water is undoubtedly the Esquimaux Lake, which, according to the natives, not only communicates with the eastern branch of the Mackenzie, but receives, besides, two large rivers; and, consequently, the whole of the land which we coasted from Point Encounter, is a collection of islands. The temperature varied this day from 38 degrees to 55 degrees. The length of the day's voyage was thirty-three miles, the lat.i.tude of our encampment 69 degrees 57 minutes, and longitude 128 degrees 18 minutes W.

[Sidenote: Monday, 17th.] On the 17th a thick fog detained us until nine o'clock in the morning, when it dispersed, and we left our encampment.

About two miles from Nicholson's Island the water was nine fathoms deep, and had a brackish taste; but as we continued our course to the northward, it became shoaler and salter. This added to the probability of the winding channel, which bore south, being a large river; and that opinion was further strengthened by our observing, when we landed to breakfast, the sh.o.r.e to be strewed with tide-wrack, resembling that which is generally found on the banks of rivers in this country, such as pieces of willows, fragments of fresh-water plants, and lumps of peat earth. We were delighted to find here a beach of sand and fine gravel, bold enough to admit of our running the boats upon it. The fresh footsteps of a party of Esquimaux were seen on the sand.

After obtaining an observation for lat.i.tude, 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 acc.u.mulated 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 ma.s.ses 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 ma.s.s 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 ma.s.ses 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 pa.s.sage 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 ash.o.r.e 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 lat.i.tude 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 pa.s.sage 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 sh.o.r.e 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, brandis.h.i.+ng 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 surpa.s.sed 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 grat.i.tude, they sang a song to a pleasing air, keeping time with their oars. They gave us many pressing invitations to pa.s.s 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 p.r.o.nunciation 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 sh.o.r.e, 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 sh.o.r.e we were now coasting was part of the main land, and that some land to the northward, which appeared soon after we had pa.s.sed their tents, consisted of two islands; between which and the main sh.o.r.e, there was a pa.s.sage leading to the open sea. On landing to cook breakfast and obtain a meridian observation for lat.i.tude, 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. .h.i.therto 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 ash.o.r.e 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 lat.i.tude 70 degrees 36 minutes N., longitude 127 degrees 35 minutes W. and proved to be the most northerly part of the main sh.o.r.e 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 quant.i.ties 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.