by John Marshall

“ Just as we were about to commence our march I was seized with a fainting fit, in consequence of exhaustion and sudden exposure to the wind; but after eating a morsel of portable soup, I recovered so far as to be able to move on. The ground was covered a foot deep with snow, and the swamps over which we had to pass were entirely frozen; but the ice not being sufficiently strong to bear us, we frequently plunged knee-deep in water. Those who carried the canoes were repeatedly blown down by the violence of the wind, and they often fell, from making an insecure step on a slippery stone ”

“ Richardson and Mr. Hood determined to remain with John Hepburn, who volunteered to stop with them. Their tent was securely pitched, a few willows were collected, and the ammunition and all other articles deposited, except each man’s clothing, the other tent, a sufficiency of ammunition for the journey, and the officers’ journals. I had only one blanket, which was carried for me, and two pair of shoes. The offer was now made for any of the men, who felt themselves too weak to proceed, to remain behind; but none of them accepted it. Michel, the Iroquois, alone felt some inclination to do so. ”

“ Whilst the deer are quietly grazing, the wolves assemble in great numbers, and, forming a crescent, creep slowly towards the herd, go as not to alarm them much at first; but when they perceive that they have fairly hemmed in the unsuspecting creatures, and cut off their retreat across the plain, they move more quickly, and with hideous yells terrify their prey, and urge them to flight by the only open way, which is that towards the precipice ”

“ The stores were distributed to the three canoes. Our stock of provision unfortunately did not amount to more than sufficient for one day’s consumption, exclusive of two barrels of flour, three cases of preserved meat, some chocolate, arrow-root, and portable soup, which we had brought from England, and intended to reserve for our journey to the coast next season. It was gratifying, however, to perceive that this scarcity of food did not depress the spirits of our Canadian companions, who cheerfully loaded their canoes, and embarked in high glee, after receiving the customary dram. ”

“ The easterly gale gave place to a calm, on the morning of the 7th; and as this change, though it produced no effect in loosening the ice to the northward, caused more water to flow into the channel between the island and the main, we succeeded with little difficulty in crossing the flats that had before impeded us. Beyond this bar, the water gradually deepened to three fathoms; and, a favorable breeze springing up, we steered for the outer point of land in sight. ”

“ The fog returned; and the wind freshening, soon created such a swell upon the flats, that it became necessary to haul further from the land; and the drift-ice beginning to close around us, we could no longer proceed with safety, and therefore endeavoured to find a landing place, but were frustrated by the shoalness of the water, and the height of the surf. the increasing violence of the gale, however, and the density of the fog, rendering it absolutely necessary for us to obtain some shelter, we stood out to seaward, with the view of making fast to a large piece of ice. ”

“ Lieutenant Franklin now began to make some arrangements respecting the obtaining of men, and the stores he should require for their equipment, as well as for presents for the Indians; but he learnt with regret, that in consequence of the recent lavish expenditure of the Companies’ goods, in support of a determined commercial opposition, their supply to the expedition would, of necessity, be very limited. The men, too, were backward in offering their services, especially those of the Hudson’s Bay Company, who demanded a much higher rate of wages than he considered it would be proper to grant. ”

“ The fact is, that with the decay of our strength, our minds decayed, and we were no longer able to bear the contemplation of the horrors that surrounded us. Each of us, if I may be allowed to judge from my own case, excused himself from so doing, by a desire of not shocking the feelings of the others; for we were sensible of one another’s weakness of intellect, though blind to our own. ”

“ The discoveries made by this canoe expedition, will be best understood by an inspection of the well executed chart attached to Captain Franklin’s published narrative. We shall merely observe, that Point Turnagain was the only part of the coast seen by him that extended as high as the latitude of 681/2°; and that the shores between Cape Barrow and Cape Flinders, may be comprehended in one great gulf, running to the southward as low down as 661/2°, or the Arctic circle; every where studded with islands, and indented with deep sounds, extensive bays, and convenient harbours. ”

“ When the many perplexing incidents which occurred during the survey of the coast are considered, in connection with the shortness of the period during which operations of the kind can be carried on, and the distance we had to travel before we could gain a place of shelter for the winter, I trust it will be judged that we prosecuted the enterprise as far us was prudent, and abandoned it only under a well-founded conviction that a further advance would endanger the lives of the whole party, and prevent the knowledge of what had been done from reaching England. ”

“ I shall long remember the rude and characteristic wildness of the scenery which surrounded these falls; rocks piled on rocks, hung in rude and shapeless masses over the agitated torrents which swept their bases, whilst the bright and variegated tints of the mosses and lichens, that covered the face of the cliffs, contrasting with the dark green of the pines, which crowned their summits, added both beauty and grandeur to the general effect of the scene. ”

“ A strong N.E. gale and a dense fog detained Captain Franklin at this resting place until noon on the 21st of July, when he embarked his party in two canoes, and commenced the navigation of the Arctic Ocean; with a voyage before him of not less than 1200 geographical miles, Fort Churchill, on the western shore of Hudson’s Bay, being the nearest spot at which he could hope to meet with a civilized human being. He had, it is true, some faint hope of meeting with Esquimaux along the coast, with whom he might, if necessary, pass the winter ”

“ A few willows, whose tops were seen peeping through the snow in the bottom of the valley, were quickly grubbed, the tents pitched, and supper cooked, and devoured with avidity.” On the 12th, the snow was two feet deep, and “the whole of the men complained more of faintness and weakness than they had ever done before; their strength” says Captain Franklin, “seemed to have been impaired by the recent supply of animal food. Our supper consumed the last of our meat.” Their only resource now was lichens of the genus gyrophora, which the Canadians term tripe de roche ”

“ We removed the body into a clump of willows behind the tent, and, returning to the fire, read the funeral service in addition to the evening prayers. The loss of a young officer, of such distinguished and varied talents and application, may be felt and duly appreciated by the eminent characters under whose command he bad served; but the calmness with which he contemplated the probable termination of a life of uncommon promise, and the patience and fortitude with which he sustained, I may venture to say, unparalleled bodily sufferings, can only be known to the companions of his distresses. ”

“ Michel now produced a hare and a partridge, which he had killed in the morning. This unexpected supply of provision was received by us with a deep sense of gratitude to the Almighty for his goodness, and we looked upon the Iroquois as the instrument he had chosen to preserve all our lives. Michel complained of cold, and Mr. Hood offered to share his buffalo robe with him at night. ”

“ The three boats mentioned by Captain Franklin were constructed at Woolwich under his own superintendence. To fit them for the ascent and descent of the many rapids between York Factory and Mackenzie River, and to render their transport over the numerous portages more easy, it was necessary to have them as small, and of as light a construction as possible; and, in fact, as much like a birch-bark canoe as was consistent with the stability and capacity required for their voyage at sea. ”

“ It was not until the 14th of June, that the Indians considered the ice to have sufficiently broken up in the Copper-mine river, to admit of its being navigated by canoes. Dr. Richardson had just before advanced with twenty men, women, and children, to the borders of Point Lake, where he found the snow deeper in many parts than it had been at any time during the winter, near Fort Enterprise; and he likewise reported that the ice on the lake had scarcely begun to decay. As the time of departure approached, the Indians began to manifest a decided reluctance to proceed ”

“ The general dress of the winter traveller in this region is a capot, having a hood to put up under the fur cap in windy weather, or in the woods, to keep the snow from his neck; leathern trowsers, and Indian stockings, which are closed at the ancles, round the upper part of his mocassins, or Indian shoes, to prevent the snow from getting into them. Over these he wears a blanket, or leathern coat, which is secured by a belt round his waist, to which his fire-bag, knife, and hatchet, are suspended. ”

“ The raft was finished by seven; but as the willows were green, it proved to be very little buoyant, and was unable to support more than one man at a time. Several attempts were made by Belanger and Benoit, the strongest men of the party, to convey it across the stream, but they failed for want of oars. The tent poles tied together proved too short to reach the bottom, at a short distance from the shore; and a paddle which had been carried from the sea-coast by Dr. Richardson, did not possess sufficient power to move the raft in opposition to a strong breeze, which blew from the other side. ”

“ On the 23d, the canoe, which had already been much injured by repeated falls, was wilfully broken, and no arguments were sufficient to prevail on the Canadians to carry it any farther; the officers being of a less robust habit, and less accustomed to privations, their strength was inadequate to the task. They had now been a whole day upon the borders of an extensive lake, and the appearance of some dwarf pines and willows, larger than usual, induced them to suppose that the Copper-mine river was near. ”

“ At Fort Enterprise, the last of the winter’s stock of deers’ meat was expended on the 23d of March, and Captain Franklin was compelled to issue a little pounded meat which he had reserved for making pemmican for summer use. To divert the attention of the men from their wants, he encouraged the practice of sliding, upon sledges, down the steep bank of the river near their residence. These vehicles descended the snowy slope with much velocity, and ran a great distance upon the ice. ”

“ These feeble vessels of bark will carry twenty-five pieces of goods, each weighing ninety pounds, exclusive of the necessary provision and baggage for the crew of five or six men, amounting in the whole to about 3,300 pounds weight. This great lading they annually carry between the depots and the posts in the interior; and it rarely happens that any accidents occur, if they are managed by experienced bowmen and steersmen, on whose skill the safety of the canoe entirely depends in the rapids and difficult places. Its weight is estimated at 300 pounds, exclusive of the poles and oars. ”

“ As the ice was still fast to the reef, and likely to continue so, it was considered better to occupy ourselves in dragging the boats through the mud, than to continue longer in this irksome spot, where the wood was already scarce, and the water indifferent. The boats accordingly proceeded with four men in each, while the rest of the crew walked along the shore, and rendered assistance wherever it was necessary, to drag them over the shallow parts. ”

“ Germain and Solomon Belanger, had so recruited their strength, that they were preparing to proceed from the Indian hunters’ encampment to Fort Providence.
On the 16th, Captain Franklin and his party set out for the abode of Akaitcho, which they reached in safety after a painful, but gradually improving march of ten days. Their feelings on quitting the house where they had formerly enjoyed much comfort, if not happiness, and latterly experienced a degree of misery scarcely to be paralleled, may be more easily conceived than described. ”

“ The wolves serenaded us through the night of the 27th with a chorus of their agreeable howling, but none of them ventured near the encampment. Mr. Back’s repose was disturbed by a more serious evil; his buffalo robe caught fire, and the shoes on his feet, being contracted by the heat, gave him such pain, that he jumped up in the cold, and ran into the snow as the only means of obtaining relief.
“On the 28th, we had a strong and piercing wind in our faces, and much snow-drift. ”

“ They were terrified at the idea of a voyage through an icy sea in bark canoes. They speculated on the length of it, – the roughness of the water, – the uncertainty of procuring provisions, – the exposure to cold where we could expect no fuel, – and the prospect of having to traverse the barren grounds, to get to some establishment. The two interpreters (St. Germain and Adam) expressed their apprehensions with the least disguise, and again urgently applied to be discharged. ”

“ Thick fogs, and heavy gales of wind, prevented the boats from finally quitting this island until the morning of the 16th; previous to which, the whole of the vegetation had assumed the autumnal tint; the temperature had fallen to 35°; and young ice had already formed on the small pools near the tents, which were previously so saturated with wet as to be very comfortless abodes, – particularly as the quantity of drift-wood would only admit of a fire being made for cooking. Captain Franklin thus describes the termination of his voyage to the westward ”

“ By thus participating in their amusements, the men became more attached to their superiors, at the same time that the latter contributed to their health and cheerfulness. The hearts and feelings of the whole were united in one common desire to make the time pass as agreeably as possible to each other, until the return of spring should enable them to resume the great object of the expedition. ”

“ The boats of the expedition, accompanied by Augustus and another Esquimaux interpreter, named Ooligbuck, had advanced from York Factory into the interior, 1200 miles, before they were joined by Captain Franklin and Dr. Richardson; whilst the latter, from taking a more circuitous route, by New York and Upper Canada, travelled 2800 miles, to reach the same point. This junction took place on the 29th of June, 1825, in the Methye River, which is almost at the head of the waters that run from the north into Hudson’s Bay. ”

“ In short, their despondency had returned, and they all despaired of seeing Fort Enterprise again. However, the steady assurances of the officers made some impression upon them, and they then deplored their folly and impatience in breaking the canoe. St. Germain being called upon to endeavour to construct a frame with willows, stated that he was unable to make one sufficiently large. It became necessary, therefore, to search for pines of sufficient size to form a raft; and being aware that such trees grow on the borders of Point Lake, we considered it best to trace its shores in search of them. ”

“ Mackenzie, of the Hudson’s Bay Company, who was going to Isle à la Crosse, with four sledges under his charge, we formed quite a procession, keeping in an Indian file, in the track of the man who preceded the foremost dogs; but, as the snow was deep, we proceeded slowly on the surface of the river. ”