CHAPTER IV.

Ascend the Coppermine River--Abandon the Boats and Stores--Commence the Land Journey--Cross the Copper Mountains and Height of Land--Meet Indians who bring Provisions--Arrive at Great Bear Lake--Detained by want of a Boat--Send out Hunters--Arrival of Beaulieu--Collect the Party, and proceed to Fort Franklin--Conclusion.

The Coppermine River, for forty miles above Bloody Fall, flows over an uneven stony bed, betwixt precipitous rocky walls, and is full of rapids. It is totally impracticable to ascend it in boats having a greater draught of water than a few inches; and even a small canoe must be frequently carried over land for considerable distances, to avoid the numerous obstacles which occur. It was necessary, therefore, that we should leave at this place the Dolphin and Union, and every thing that was not absolutely necessary for our journey. We determined, however, on taking with us Colonel Pasley's canvass boat, the Walnut-shell, in the hope of its occasionally relieving the men of their burdens for a short time, should any part of the river admit of its use. The afternoon was employed in arranging the loads for crossing the barren grounds. Twenty pounds of pemmican were allotted to each man, and the packages of maccaroni, arrow-root, portable-soup, chocolate, sugar, and tea, were equally distributed; together with the nautical almanack, astronomical tables, charts, two fishing nets, the collection of plants, specimens of rocks, and the portable boat, kettles, and hatchets; all of which, with the blankets, spare shoes, guns, and ammunition, made a load of about seventy-two pounds a man. Mr. Kendall undertook to carry the sextant and azimuth-compass; and I took the artificial horizon and a package of paper for drying plants, besides which we each carried a blanket, gun, and ammunition. As I feared that some of the party would over-rate their strength, and, through a desire of saving some favourite article, load themselves too heavily at the outset, which could not fail to prove very injurious to the regularity and speed of our march, I informed them, that, as soon as we were at a convenient distance from our present encampment, I should halt and examine all their bundles.

The boats were drawn up on shore, out of the reach of any flood, and the remainder of the articles, that we had brought to give the Esquimaux, were put into boxes and placed in the tents, that they might be readily found by the first party of that nation that passed this way. They consisted of fish-hooks, lines, hatchets, knives, files, fire-steels, kettles, combs, awls, needles, thread, blue and red cloth, gartering, and beads, sufficient to serve a considerable number of Esquimaux for several years. The tents were securely pitched, and the Union Jack hoisted, partly for the purpose of attracting the attention of the natives, and partly to show them the mode of using the tents, which may prove to be very useful in their summer journeys. That no accident might occur from the natives finding any of our powder, all that we did not require to take with us was thrown into the river.

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.

At noon the latitude was observed in 67 degrees 13 minutes N., and as we were now on the spot where the Coppermine makes the nearest approach to the north-east arm of Bear Lake, we decided on striking directly from this place to the mouth of Dease's River, and the course and distance were accordingly calculated. Our route lay over rocks of old red sandstone, clay-slate, and greenstone disposed in ridges, which had a direction from E.S.E. to W.N.W. The sides of many of the ridges were precipitous, and their uneven and stony summits were two hundred or two hundred and fifty feet high. The valleys were generally swampy and abounded in small lakes. A few scattered and thin clumps of pines existed in the more sheltered spots, but the country was, in general, naked. Several burrows of wolves were seen in the mountains. We crossed two small streams in the course of the day, flowing towards the Coppermine, and encamped at four P.M. on the banks of a small lake. Sand-flies, the first we had seen this season, were numerous and troublesome in the evening, the temperature then being 53 degrees.

In the afternoon our route was over nearly horizontal strata of spotted sandstone and conglomerate. About three o'clock we had gained the summit of the height of land separating the Coppermine River from Great Bear Lake, and obtained from it an extensive view of a lower and well wooded country; but all the grounds in our immediate neighbourhood consisted of barren sandstone strata. After looking in vain for a comfortable sleeping-place, as the night threatened to be stormy, and a moist and cold fog was setting in, we were obliged to content ourselves with building a rude shelter with blocks of sandstone; and to use for firing a black lichen (cornicularia divergens,) which, fortunately, grew plentifully in the crevices of the rock. The distance walked this day was about fourteen miles. We had no meridional observations, because the sky was obscured.

We had supped, and most of the men had retired to rest, when Mr. Kendall, in sweeping the horizon with his telescope, saw three Indians coming down a hill, and directing their steps towards us. More moss was immediately thrown on the fire, and the St. George's ensign hoisted on the end of a musquet, to point out to the comers who we were; but as they hid the youngest of their number in a ravine, at the foot of the hill, and the two seniors seemed to approach slowly and with suspicion, Mr. Kendall and I went unarmed to meet them. They came up, one with his bow and arrows in his hand, and the other with his gun cocked; but as soon as they recognised our dress, which was the same that I had worn in our voyage round Bear Lake, the preceding autumn, when I had seen most of the Hare Indian tribe, they shouted in an ecstasy of joy, shook hands most cordially with us, and called loudly for the young lad to come up. The meeting was no less gratifying to us: these people had brought furs and provisions to Fort Franklin in the winter, and they now seemed to be friends come to rejoice with us on the termination of our voyage. We learned from them, partly by signs, and partly from the little we understood of their language, that by the advice of It-chinnah, the Hare Indian Chief, they had been hunting for some time in this neighbourhood, in the hopes of falling in with us on our way from the sea; that they would give us all the provision they had collected, accompany us to Bear Lake, and warn all the Indians in the neighbourhood of our arrival. They appeared much surprised, when, placing the compass on the ground, we showed them the exact bearing of the mouth of Dease's River; and they were not able to comprehend how we knew the way in a quarter through which we had never travelled. They said, however, that they would conduct us in the morning to the Indian portage road, where we would have better walking than by keeping the direct route across the hills. We had reserved but little that we could present to these kind people, though every one contrived to muster some small article for them, which they gratefully received. They were dressed, after the manner of their tribe, with fillets of deer-skin round their heads and wrists, and carried in their hands a pair of deer's horns and a few willow twigs, which are all serviceable in enabling them to approach the rein-deer, in the way described by Mr. Wentzel in the Narrative of Captain Franklin's former voyage.

Ooligbuck, who had gone out to hunt, returned in the night. He met an Indian who had just killed a deer with an arrow, and had tried to persuade him to come to us; but neither of them understood the other's language, and the Indian, probably terrified by the sight of an Esquimaux armed with a gun, presented him with a piece of the deer's meat, and then made off in an opposite direction. Many of the Hare Indians abstain from visiting the forts for several years, and it is possible that this one had not heard of us, or at least had not received a distinct account of our intention of returning his way, and of our having an Esquimaux with us. Our Indian friends told us that they did not know that any of their countrymen were hunting in the direction which Ooligbuck pointed out.

The portage-road conducted us in a short time to the principal branch of Dease's River, on the banks of which, at the distance of six miles from our encampment, we halted to breakfast. The stream there receives another branch, but it is fordable without difficulty, being nowhere much above knee-deep. A little way further to the westward, however, it is less rapid, and forms frequent lake-like expansions. Our march from last night's encampment was over sandstone rocks, and down a pretty rapid ascent. The ground was barren in the extreme, except at our breakfasting place, where there was a convenient clump of wood and a profusion of whortleberries. Having finished this meal, we resumed the march, with the intention of halting a few miles further on, that our Indian friends might rejoin us with their provision, which lay in store to the southward of our route. We therefore encamped at half past two o'clock in a pleasant pine clump, and immediately set fire to a tree to apprize the Indians of our situation. They arrived at sunset, heavily laden with tongues, fat, and half-dried meat; and M'Leay also killed two deer after we encamped, so that we revelled in abundance. The length of the day's journey was fourteen miles, and the estimated distance of the mouth of Dease's River twenty miles.

Having now brought the Narrative of the proceedings of the Eastern Detachment to a conclusion, the pleasing duty remains of expressing my gratitude to the party for their cheerful and obedient conduct. Not a murmur of discontent was heard throughout the voyage, but every individual engaged with alacrity in the laborious tasks he was called upon to perform. Where all behaved with the greatest zeal, it would be invidious to particularize any; and I am happy in having it in my power to add, that since our return to England, Gillet, Fuller and Tysoe, who were in His Majesty's service previous to their being employed on the Expedition, have been rewarded by promotion. Our good-natured and faithful Esquimaux friend Ooligbuck, carried with him to his native lands the warmest wishes and esteem of the whole party. His attachment to us was never doubtful, even when we were surrounded by a tribe of his own nation.

The general abilities and professional skill of my companion, Lieutenant Kendall, are duly appreciated in higher quarters, and can derive little lustre from any eulogium from me; but I cannot deny myself the gratification of recording my deep sense of the good fortune and happiness I experienced in being associated with a gentleman of such pleasing manners, and one upon whose friendly support and sound judgment I could with confidence rely, on occasions of difficulty and doubt inseparable from such a voyage.

End of Dr. Richardson's Narrative of the Proceedings of the Eastern Detachment.

TABLE of the distances travelled by both Branches of the Expedition, and of the extent of their Discoveries in 1827.

BY THE WESTERN PARTY. Statute Miles. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From Fort Franklin, by Fort Norman, to Point Separation (river course) 525 Point Separation to Pillage Point, at the Mouth of the Mackenzie 129 Pillage Point to Return reef (sea-voyage out) 374 Return Reef, back to Fort Franklin, including Peel River 1020 ---- Distance travelled by the Western Party in July, August, September, 1826. 2048

BY THE EASTERN PARTY. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From Fort Franklin to Point Separation, along with the western party 525 Point Separation to Point Encounter (river course.) 159 Encounter to the Coppermine River (sea-voyage) 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. 12 } and Warren } { 6 48 P.M. 1 48 - 5 Little ice visible.

13 Atkinson Island 69 55 130 43 7 0 P.M. 0 32 S.E. 1 Rise and fall 18 inches.

14 Browell Cove 70 00 130 20 7 0 P.M. 1 12 West. 6 Very little rise and fall.

18 Point Sir 70 08 127 45 3 15 A.M. 3 47 Calm. - P. Maitland 19 Near Cape Bathurst 70 33 127 21 1 30 A.M. 1 28 E.S.E. 6 { In the mouth of Harrowby Bay, round (18 & 19) { which the tide appeared to flow. { Flood setting from the Eastward. { Rise and fall 14-1/2 inches.

20 Point Fitton 70 11 126 14 4 00 A.M. 3 18 N.W. 6 Rise and fall 13 inches.

TABLE of Times of High Water, &c.--Concluded.

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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1826. d. m. d. m. h. m. h. m. July 20 W. Horton River 69 50 125 55 4 15 P.M. 3 15 W.N.W. 9

21 - - - - - 5 0 A.M. 3 49 - 7

27 Cape Lyon 69 46 122 51 {11 50 A.M. 6 33 E.N.E. 8 { Stream of flood from the { Eastward. Rise and fall 30 {Three miles from } { 14 inches. {Buchanan River } 69 24 120 03 { 5 0 P.M. 8 20 W.N.W. 8 Ice close and heavy, Rise and fall 9 inches. Aug. 1 Point Wise 69 03 119 00 8 30 P.M. 7 04 West. 4 Compact ice.

3 Stapylton Bay 68 52 116 03 9 0 P.M. 8 22 East. 2 In a bay filled with ice.

4 { Between C. Hope } { and C. Bexley } 68 57 115 48 3 15 P.M. 8 25 E.S.E. 4 Ice to seaward.

5 Chantry Island 68 45 114 23 8 30 P.M. 7 22 W.S.W. 3 Loose masses of ice.

6 {Seven miles from } {C. Krusenstern } 68 32 113 53 9 00 P.M. 7 13 Variable. - Flood from the S.E. Velocity 3 miles an hour.

FOOTNOTES:

Franklin's First Journey to the Polar Sea, p. 337.

All the distances mentioned in the narrative of the proceedings of the eastern detachment, are geographical miles.

CAPTAIN FRANKLIN'S NARRATIVE RESUMED.