Narrative of a Second Expedition to the Shores of the Polar Sea Part 13

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 b.l.o.o.d.y 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 b.l.o.o.d.y 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 canva.s.s boat, the Walnut-sh.e.l.l, 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 fis.h.i.+ng 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 s.e.xtant and azimuth-compa.s.s; 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 sh.o.r.e, 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 pa.s.sed 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 compa.s.s, 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 lat.i.tude 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 lat.i.tude 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: Sat.u.r.day, 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 quant.i.ty of ice formed by snow, consolidated by the oozing of the stream, still remained in the bed of this rivulet.

At noon the lat.i.tude 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 dest.i.tute 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 lat.i.tude 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 c.o.c.ked; 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 compa.s.s 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 princ.i.p.al 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 sh.o.r.e 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 lat.i.tude. 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 circ.u.mstances, 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: Sat.u.r.day, 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 sh.o.r.e 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 pa.s.sed 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 pa.s.sed 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: Sat.u.r.day, 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 ash.o.r.e.

As soon as we landed, I set out with the Babillard for Haldane River, carrying a small quant.i.ty 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 grat.i.tude 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 l.u.s.tre 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 a.s.sociated 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.

General Remarks.

---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1825. d. m. d. m. h. m. h. m.

Aug.

16 Garry Island 69 29 135 41 1 0 P.M. 10 19 N.E. 6 No ice visible.

1826.

July 9 Point Toker 69 38 132 18 4 25 P.M. 1 45 N.E.b.E. 5 Loose ice covering the sea. Rise of water 20 in.

10 } Bay between } { 5 0 P.M. 0 56 East. 8 } Points Toker } 69 43 131 58 { Heavy pieces of ice.