Narrative of an Expedition to the Shores of the Arctic Sea in 1846 and 1847

CHAPTER I.. Object and Plan of the Expedition--Equipment At York

Object and plan of the Expedition--Equipment at York Factory--Boats--Crews--Articles useful in an Arctic Voyage--Breaking up of the ice in Hayes and Nelson Rivers--Departure from York Factory--Progress retarded by the ice--First night at sea--Reflections--Rupert's Creek--Unbroken fields of ice--Broad River--Description of the Coast--Double Cape Churchill--Open sea to the north and north-west--Arrive at Churchill--White whales--Mode of catching them--Sir George Simpson's instructions--Stock of provisions 1

CHAPTER II.. Depart From Churchill--a Gale--Anchor in Knap's Bay--Land on an

Depart from Churchill--A gale--Anchor in Knap's Bay--Land on an island--Esquimaux graves--Visited by Esquimaux--A large river running into Knap's Bay--Nevill's Bay--Corbet's Inlet--Rankin's Inlet--Cape Jalabert--Greenland whales seen--Chesterfield Inlet--Walruses--Cape Fullerton--Visited by an Esquimaux--Reefs--Cape Kendall seen--Ice packed against the shore--Take shelter in an excellent harbour--River traced--Seals--Gale--Ice driven off--Direction of the tides reversed--Whale Point--Many whales seen--Again stopped by the pack--Wager River estuary--Ice drifts--Eddy currents--No second opening into Wager River seen--Enter Repulse Bay--Interview with Esquimaux--No intelligence of Sir John Franklin 19

CHAPTER III.. Receive a Visit From a Female Party--Their Persons and Dress

Receive a visit from a female party--Their persons and dress described--Crossing the Isthmus--Drag one of the boats up a stream--Succession of rapids--North Pole Lake--Find a plant fit for fuel--Christie Lake--Flett Portage--Corrigal Lake--Fish--Deer-scaring stones--White wolf--Stony Portage--View of the sea--Exploring party sent in advance--Their report--Long Portage--Difficult tracking--Miles Lake--Muddy Lake--Rich pasturage and great variety of flowers on its banks--Marmot burrows--Salt Lake--Visit Esquimaux tents--Discouraging report of the state of the ice--Esquimaux chart--Reach the sea--Ross inlet--Point Hargrave--Cape Lady Pelly--Stopped by the ice--Put ashore--Find a sledge made of ship-timber--Thick fog--Wolves--Walk along the shore--Remains of musk-cattle and rein-deer--Nature of the coast--Danger from the ice--Irregular rise of the tide--Deer on the ice--Fruitless efforts to proceed northward--Cross over to Melville Peninsula--Gale--Again stopped by the ice--Dangerous position of the boat--Return to starting point--Meeting with our Esquimaux friends at Salt Lake--Deer begun to migrate southward--Walk across the isthmus to Repulse Bay 38

CHAPTER IV.. State of Things At Repulse Bay--Determine to Discontinue the

State of things at Repulse Bay--Determine to discontinue the survey till the spring--Reasons--Party sent to bring over the boat--Fix on a site for winter residence--Ptarmigan--Laughing geese--Eider and king ducks--Visits of natives too frequent--Return of the party sent for the boat--Report the bay more closely packed than before--Preparations for wintering--Fort Hope built--Proceed to North Pole and Christie Lakes to look out for fishing stations--Purchase dogs--Wariness of the deer--Flocks of geese pass southward--Blue-winged and snow-geese--Their habits--Snow-storm--Its effects--Return to Fort Hope--Daily routine--Signs of winter--Deer numerous--Quantity of game killed--Provision-store built of snow--Great fall of snow--Effects of the cold--Adventure with a deer--Visited by a party of natives--Their report of the ice westward of Melville Peninsula--An island said to be wooded--Produce of the chase in October--Temperature--Two observatories built of snow--Band of wolves--A party caught in a snow-storm--Esquimaux theory of the heavenly bodies--Temperature of November--Diminished supply of provisions 61

CHAPTER V.. Winter Arrangements Completed--Learn to Build

Winter arrangements completed--Learn to build snow-houses--Christmas-day--North Pole River frozen to the bottom--1st January--Cheerfulness of the men--Furious snow-storm--Observatories blown down--Boat buried under the snow--Ouligbuck caught in the storm--Dog attacked by a wolf--Party of natives take up their residence near Fort Hope--Esquimaux mentioned by Sir John Ross known to them--Boat dug out of the snow--A runaway wife--Deer begin to migrate northward--A wolf-chase--First deer of the season shot--Difficulty of deer-hunting in spring--Dimensions of an Esquimaux canoe--Serious accident to Ouligbuck--A conjuror--Preparations for the journey northward--Temperature--Aurora Borealis 81

CHAPTER VI.. Set Out for the North--Equipment of the

Set out for the north--Equipment of the party--Snow-blindness--Musk-ox--Mode of killing it--Reach the coast near Point Hargrave--Ice rough along shore--Pass Cape Lady Pelly--Unfavourable weather--Slow progress--Put on short allowance--River Ki-ting-nu-yak--Pemmican placed en cache--Cape Weynton--Colvile Bay--High hill--Dogs giving way--Work increased--Snow-house-building--Point Beaufort--Point Siveright--Keith Bay--Cape Barclay--Another cache--Leave the coast and proceed across the land--River A-ma-took--Dogs knocked up--Lake Ballenden--Harrison islands--Party left to procure provisions--Proceed with two of the men--Cape Berens--Relative effects of an eastern and western aspect--Halkett Inlet--Reach Lord Mayor's Bay--Take formal possession of the country--Commence our return to winter quarters--Friendly interview with the natives--Obtain supplies of provisions from them--View of Pelly Bay--Trace the shore to the eastward--Travel by night--Explore the coast of Simpson's Peninsula--Arrive at Fort Hope--Occurrences during the absence of the exploring party--Character of the Esquimaux Ivitchuk 97

CHAPTER VII.. Preparations for Exploring the Coast of Melville

Preparations for exploring the coast of Melville Peninsula--Outfit--Leave Fort Hope--Pass over numerous lakes--Guide at fault--Dease Peninsula--Arrive at the sea--Fatigue party sent back to Fort Hope--Barrier of ice--Lefroy Bay--Large island named after the Prince of Wales--Detained by stormy weather--Short allowance--Cape Lady Simpson--Selkirk Bay--Snow knee-deep--Capes Finlayson and Sibbald--Deer shot--A cooking scene--Favourite native relish--Again stopped by stormy weather--Cape M'Loughlin--Two men left to hunt and fish--Cape Richardson--Chain of islands--Garry Bay--Prince Albert range of hills--Cape Arrowsmith--Coast much indented--Baker Bay--Provisions fail--Proceed with one man--Cape Crozier--Parry Bay--Cape Ellice, the farthest point seen--Take possession--Commence our return--No provisions procured by the men left behind--Short commons--Flock of cranes--Snow-blindness--Arrive at Repulse Bay 137

CHAPTER VIII.. Occurrences At Fort Hope During the Absence of the Exploring

Occurrences at Fort Hope during the absence of the exploring party--Remove from winter quarters to tents--Sun seen at midnight--Build an oven and bake bread--Esquimaux method of catching seals--A concert--Lateness of the summer--A native salmon-wear--Salmon spear--Boulders on the surface of the ice--Visited by a native from the Ooglit Islands--His report of occurrences at Igloolik--Indolence of the natives--Ice breaking up--Halkett's air-boat--A storm--The ice dispersed--Prepare for sea 165

CHAPTER IX.

Voyage from Repulse Bay to York Factory 178

APPENDIX.

List of Mammalia 199 ---- Birds 201 ---- Fishes 204 ---- Plants 205

Specimens of Rocks 215

Dip of the needle and force of magnetic attraction at various stations along the west shore of Hudson's Bay, and at Fort Hope, Repulse Bay 218

Abstract of Meteorological Journal from September, 1846, to August, 1847 224

Figures and Letters used for denoting the state of the weather, &c. 248

NORTHERN AMERICA

DISCOVERIES of the HON^{BLE}. HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY'S ARCTIC EXPEDITION in 1838 & 1839.

John Arrowsmith]

NARRATIVE, ETC. ETC.

CHAPTER I.. Object and Plan of the Expedition--Equipment At York

Object and plan of the Expedition--Equipment at York Factory--Boats--Crews--Articles useful in an Arctic Voyage--Breaking up of the ice in Hayes and Nelson Rivers--Departure from York Factory--Progress retarded by the ice--First night at sea--Reflections--Rupert's Creek--Unbroken fields of ice--Broad River--Description of the coast--Double Cape Churchill--Open sea to the north and north west--Arrive at Churchill--White whales--Mode of catching them--Sir George Simpson's instructions--Stock of provisions.

It is already well known to those who take an interest in Arctic discovery, that the Hudson's Bay Company intended fitting out an expedition in 1840, which was to have proceeded to the northern shores of America by Back's Great Fish River, for the purpose of tracing the coast between the river Castor and Pollux of Dease and Simpson, and the Strait of the Fury and Hecla, as it was then very generally supposed that Boothia was an island.

The party was to have been commanded by that able and enterprising traveller, Mr. Thomas Simpson, whose indefatigable exertions, in conjunction with those of Mr. Dease, had during the three preceding years effected so much; but his untimely and melancholy fate prevented that intention from being carried into effect, and the survey of the Arctic coast was discontinued for a few years.

When it was determined that the survey should be resumed, Sir George Simpson, Governor-in-Chief of the Company's territories, informed me that a boat expedition to the Arctic Sea was again contemplated, at the same time doing me the honour of proposing that I should take command of it,--a charge which I most joyfully accepted.

The plan of the expedition was different from any that had hitherto been adopted, and was entirely of Sir George Simpson's forming. Its leading features were as follows:--A party of thirteen persons, including two Esquimaux interpreters, was to leave Churchill in two boats at the disruption of the ice, and coast along the western shore of Hudson's Bay to the northward as far as Repulse Bay; or, if thought necessary, to the Strait of the Fury and Hecla. From this latter point the shore of the Arctic Sea was to be traced to Dease and Simpson's farthest discoveries eastward; or, if Boothia Felix should be found to form part of the American continent, up to some place surveyed by Captain or Commander (now Sir John and Sir James C.) Ross.

I started from the Sault de S^{te.} Marie in the latter part of July, 1845, in a canoe which I took on with me as far as Red River, where this frail vessel was changed for a boat, which is better adapted for traversing large sheets of water. We had rather a stormy passage to Norway House, at which place five men were engaged for the expedition; and having brought two with me from the southern department, I required only three more, who I knew could easily be procured at York Factory.

At first there was some difficulty in getting volunteers, as a report had got abroad (set on foot, I believe, by either M'Kay or Sinclair, guides and steersmen with the expeditions under Sir G. Back and Dease and Simpson), that the whole party, if not starved for want of food, would run the risk of being frozen to death for want of fuel.

After leaving Norway House our progress was slow, the water being very shallow, and our boat rather a heavy drag, for a single crew, over the portages. Two Indians who were engaged, the one to go as far as Oxford House, and the other all the way to York Factory, stipulated that they should do no work on Sunday; to which I readily agreed, thinking that they acted conscientiously; and this I really believe to have been the case with one; but I had some doubts about the sincerity of the other, when I learned that, before leaving us, he had stolen a shirt and blanket from one of the boat's crew.

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