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Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clichd, il est filmd d partir de I'angle supdrieur gauche, de gauche i- droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes su;vants illustrent la mdthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 If' b r ( ; Otta \> \^ 5 U y \) GANflDfl's Northern Fringe BY GEORGE JOHNSON, F.S.S., (HON.) /. ! ' IRO.M TRANSACTlONvS OF llIK Ottawa Litrrary and Scientific Society t^^ ■•#' f CANADA'S NORTHERN FRINGE. By Okorgk Johnson, F. S. vS. (Hon.) We have in Canada a region of unknown area, Surveyor- General Dc'ville having made no attempt to ascertain the number of square miles of land surface it contains. It is an out-of-the-way region. We scarcely think of it when we use the word "Canada." It is not mentioned in Parliament once a session. It suggests no scandals, no award of contracts, without or with tender. Mr. Tarte's dredges are not in demand there. Mr. Blair's engineers are not in request for either canals or railways. Sir Louis Davies is not called upon to provide light- houses and automatic fog-horns, nor is Mr. Fisher solicited to supply hot or cold storage for the products of its orchards and its dairies. Sir Charles Tupper and Mr. Foster and Mr. Fielding are not needed to keep watch and ward over the Treasury-chest to guard against cunningly devised a.ssaults upon the people's money 1)\- the people of this region. Mr. Borden had not to decide in October and December last how many volunteers to apportion to it as its share of the gallant 2000 who went, our pledge of Em- pire, at the call of the Empire, more than 7,000 miles over oceaifs dreary waste to represent us on the l:)lood-stained field of South Africa. Yet this region has l)een the .scene of great activities. It has l)een a favorite camping ground for .scienti.sts. It has had its free theatres, its free newspapers, its free schools, its own currency. F^or good work done within its borders it has given more C. B's and K. C. B's and (',. C. B's to Britain's .sons than any t)ther Province of Canada. It has been a hot-house for grow- ing Rear Admirals, \Mce Admirals, Admirals and Admirals of the fleet. It is Canada's Westminster Abbey — one of the grandest temples on earth — "a temple not made with hands" — with more connnemorative tablets than has the great temple of silence nnd reconciliation on the banks of the Thames with its accunudatcd monuments of over 700 years. lo TRANSACTIONS i899-'oo What the Holy Land was to Europe in the time of the Cru- sades — a field for the adveriturous. a training school for the soldiers of Christianity — that this corner of Canada has been to the Mother-land. Among it s thousand isles and straits, the sea- men of the United Kingdom have received training to develop caution, dash, intrepidity, individuality, coolness in time of danger, determination undismayed !)>' defeat and all those master- ful qualities which are the hall-mark of the British nati^ lal clmracter. The greater portion of this region is included in that part of Canada where the lines of longitude converge so that a degree of latitude is from 21 to 10 miles in length instead of the 60 miles on the equator or the 44 miles on the latitude of Toronto. This region is a region of islands. They have been won for "The flag that has braved a thousand years The battle and the bree/.e, ' ' by a series of sea-fights with storm and tempest, ice-bergs, and ice-floes, carried on during many years under most unusual and trying conditions, by seamen, "the bravest of the brave." Canada is essentially a hero-land. There was much of the stuff of which heroes are made in the men who sailed up tlie St. Lawrence River and won the region of its Great Lakes for the coming generations during the period in our hi.story when the policies of concentration and of expansion first strove with each other, like Jacob and Esau in their mother's woml) — the first to confine population to the lower St. Lawrence, and the other to spread over the interior the posts of war and of trade*. The story of the struggles of French and English with the savages of the forest is diamond-pointed all over with deeds of heroism. The long-drawn-out contest of the French witli the Five Nation.s — those Boers of the past centuries ; the march of Frontenac into their country; the momentous fight of Dollard and his 16 con- secrated companions with the Iroquois ; the rejiulse of Pontiac by Gladwyn when that great warrior, chief of tlie (^ttawas, ])esieged Detroit ; the fiery career of Sieur d'lljerville,— these and scores of *See Parkman's " Half Century of Conflict. i899-'oo TRANSACTIONS II others like them all attest that when French were fighting Indians and when they were fighting English, when English were fighting French and Indians, there were among English, French and Indians, heroes in plenty. "Troops of heroes nndistinguished died" in the winning of Canada for civilization. We are only now beginning to appreciate at their trne worth the pioneers of Canada. The United Empire Loyalists who passed the early years of their life in Canada encompassed with trials, cheerfully borne and successfully overcome, that would have daunted all but men and women cast in heroic mould ; the pioneers who entered each of the 45 counties into which Ontario is divided and by painful processes hewed out the farms from the forest and lived noble lives in lonely log huts scantily furnished — of these it has been said and trul>- "no better stuff stood beside Nelson on board the 'Victory', no better stuff climbed the heights of Alma or charged the Dervishes at Khartoum"and we may add 'or plunged into the pitiless storm of shot and shell on their resistless way up the precipitous sides of Elandslaagte, or swept their brave foes away along the banks of the Modder River." The islands of our north have had their heroes, too, and the .seamen who won them for the Empire and for Canada are the peers oftho.se who toiled and were martyred along our .southern borders. The general name by which the.se islands are known is "Dis- trict of Franklin." They are appropriately so named in honor of Sir John Frank- lin, whose exploits in circum-polar regions and whose tragic fate are fittingly connnemorated by a monument in Westminster Abbey, by a marble slab prej- \red under the direction of Lady Franklin and erected in 1851 by Captain McClintoch on Beechy Lsland ; and by Sir John Macdonald's selection of the great ex- plorer's surname as the official and distinctive appellation of our Arctic Archipelago. HOW DID IT BECOME OURS TO GUARD AND KEEP FOR THE EMPIRE ? It was transferred to Canada when the North West Terri- torities were handed over to our care to develop and make the great wheat-raising country it is destined to become, thus solving f 12 TRANSACTlONvS i899-'oo the probletu ever pressinjj^ upon tlie lieart of the Hritish ICinpire, viz.: How can we supi)ly our food-wants within the Ivni])ire itself? Doubts having been expres:-ed by Hon. David Mills in 1S78* about the inclusion of tlie Islands of the Arctic Archipelago in the transfer on the 23rd June 1S70, a .second Order-in-Council, at the instance of the Parliament of Canada, was ])assed by the Imperial Privy Council, dated 31st July i.SSo, In- wdiich instrument all the i.slands were made over to Canada from ist Sept. iSSot ; thus making assurance doubly sure. The district of P'ranklin was constituted and the name con- ferred by an Order-in-Council of the Canadian government in October, 1893. A sub.setiuent Order-in-Council modifying the allotment of territory was passed in December, 1897, two peninsulas connected with the mainland being added. WHAT DOES FRANKLIN INCUTDK ? WHAT ARE ITS METES AND BOUNDS ? I^eaving Hudson Bay out there is the great sea called Baffin's Ba\- with its nortliern connections, to the Paleocrystic;}; vSea, of .Smith's vSound, Kennedy and Robe.son Channels, and its* western openings of Jones Sound and Lancaster Soinid. Parallel with Baffin's Bay is Fox Chainiel, connecting by the Fury and Hecla Straits with the Gulf of Boothia, also parallel to Baffin's Bay. The Gulf of Boothia connects by Prince Regent vSound with Barrow Strait which is a continuation of Lancaster Sound run- ning ea.st and west. The western development of Barrow Strait is the expansion called Melville Sound with lateral openings north and .south. The northern side openings are Wellington channel, Queen's channel and Penny Strait, these three being prolonga- tions of each other ; and Byam Martin Channel ; on the south side the openings are Peel Sound, Franklin Strait, McClintock *Hansard, May 3rd, 1878. tSee Statutes of Canada 1880-81, Imipl. Despatches of Orders-in-Council, page IX. + Paleociystic, consisting of ice that does not melt in sunnner but exists froih year to year. First appHed to tiie northermost ice floes encountered by Capt. Markham's party in 1875-6. i899-'oo TRANSACTIONS ^^ Chaiind. Victoria Straits. Prince of Wales Strait. The North- westerly extension of Melville vSoinid is McChire Strait, connect- in^^ the vSound with Heaufort vSea and connected uitli the Taleo- crystic vSea of the north by Kellett Strait. Cro/ier Channel and Fit/. William vStrait. The Ik-anfort vSea is connected with Hoothia Peninsnla alon^ the continental north lineof coast by Dolphin and Union Strait, leadinjj^ into Dnke of York's Archi])ela«() and Cor- onation (iulf ; by Dease Strait from Coronation (Udf to Victoria (inlf : by Simjison Strait leading to R.k C.nlf and tlie junctnre of Boothia Peninsnla with the rest of the continent. Tlie general appearance is that of a fish's back bone. {Com- prising Lancaster, and Harrow Straits. Melville Sound and Mc- Clnre's Straits with lateral .straits on either side. It is like Hank Street with Sparks, Qrteen, Albert and vSlater and other cross streets. It suggests a greater Venice with ice or water streets in every direction but principall>- north and .south. It is a miniature British lunpire with the straits for .streets just as the British E^m- pire has the .seas for .streets. On the far northea.stern side of this miglity archipelago and on the western .side of Smith. Kennedy and Robeson Chamiels are Grant Land (bordering on Lincoln vSea), Orinnell Land innnedia- tely .south of Grant, Arthur Land, Schley Land. Klle.sniere Land and N. Lincoln. Cro.ssing Jones Channel we see North Devon. Victoria Archi- pelago. Cornwallis Island, North Cornwall. Bathurst Land. Mel- ville Lsland and Prince Patrick Land lying north of the great central west and ea.st street of the hyi)erl)orean \'enice ; on the south .side beginning at the west there are first, the great island of Hanks Land ; then the still greater island named at the north Prince Albert Land, on the west Wolla.ston Land and at the .south Victoria Land ; then across McClintock Channel. Prince of Wales Land ; North vSomer.set, Prince Regent Island. Cockburn Island, Posses.sion Land and Baffin Land with its appurtenant divisions, Fox Land. Meta Incognita and Cumberland, and its islands. Salis- bury, Charles. Mill and Nottingham. We have completed the round and have only to mention ( i ) Melville Peninsula to which Capt. W. K. Parry refers as "the huge peninsula situated like a bastion at the north east angle of Amer- 14 TRANSACTIONS m i899-'oo ica," wliicli lie named Melville iVninsula in honor of Viscount Melville, then lirst Lord Connnissioner of the A(lniir;.ll\ . Separ- ated from Melville IVninsula 1)\' the C.ulf of Hootlii;; and streteh- inj; far into the north is the last of the ^wrA land;, of the District of I'Vanklin. It is (2) the Peninsula of Hoothia, juttinj; U)) north among the islands to the 73rd dej;ree cnid formiui; the most north- erly part of the mainland oi this continent. The flag was disi)layed and possession taken of the diflerent parts of the Arctic Archii)elago at different times and l)y different men. Krohisher and Da\'is took possession of the islands yn the north side of Hudson .Strait. Baffni took possession of Ivt^smere Land and all the tract of land stretching- far to the north and end- ing with ( I rant Land. Parr\- took jiossession of the northern islands along Harrow and McClure Straits. Belcher took po.s.se.ssion of North Cornwall, McClure of Prince Albert Land ; James Ross of Boothia ; Barry of Melville Peninsula. Some of the islands were taken ])osse.ssion of by several persons, one navigator r:u'-ing the Hag at the west, for in.stance, another at the north, and a third at the south, fur- ther explorations showing that the land thus .secured belonged to the same i.sland. Possession was assured in different ways. Frobisher took pos.se.ssion of the .south eastern land of the District of Franklin in 157S, more than three centuries ago, by ascending a high hill which he called Mutton's Headland, after one of yueen lili/.abeth's fa\orites and there erecting a large cross of stone in token of christian po,s.se.s.sion. The ceremon>- of taking possession as performed at a lat4-r date is thus described by Dr. Armstrong, the occasion being flie taking possession of Baring Land by the Captain of the "Inve.sti- gator" : "Having advanced .slowly during the night, at 8 a. m. we had reached within two miles of the magnificent headland ( which they named Lord Nelson Head, in honor of Ivngland's famous .sailor) and could obtain no soundings in 120 fathoms of water. Preparations were at once made for landing and taking formal ^ i899-'oo TRANSACTIONS 15 |)<)ssessi()n of it in Ilcr Majesty's imnie. Acconlinj^lN' Capt. Mc- ClurL' and niNSclf kfl tlit- sliip in the tliird wlialchoat tollowid by Lient. Crc-sswcll and as nian\ oRicers as conld he spared in the first entter. The morning was cold hut with a fine clear atmos- phere and a fresh hree/e from the north-east and with jo\fnl iiearts we pulled towards the shore. As we ap])r(>aclu(l we found the iee still packed on the shore so that we were ol)lij;ed to j^et out and haul the hoat ox-er the floes into clear water which led us on to a fine pehhly heaeh eastward of the cape, extendinjj; out for some distiince and it could he distinctls' seen to he of threat depth froiU its ])erfect Iransparency. "On landinjj; we unfurled a red ensign and ])lantin)^ the flag- staff in the soil took formal possession in the name of our most }j;racious vSoverei<^n with three hearty cheers and one cheer more, hestowin^on our tlisco\er\- the name of Harinj;' after the fin. I Lord of the AdmiraltN- under whose au;-.])ices the expedition had been fitted out. A scroll containini; the shi]>'s name and those of the ofiicers, «S:c., wa:. jilaced in a. bottle and carefnll\' ^;ecnred in a cask fixed in the :,oil, with a ])ole fifteen feet hij^h attached, to attract the attention of any siU):.e(iuent visitors to IJarin^ Land. The ap])earance thi:^ bold headland ])resented while we ap))roache(l the :.hore in the boat and when viewed in ])r()file was exceedini;ly fine. Indeed I may state that its sublimits r.nd *;randein' were onl\' ecpialled by its ])ictures', producinj; an effect I have seldom seen snr])assed and recallinj^- forcibly to mind, btit on a scale of j^reater magnitude, the finest of our old <;()lhic structure,^; and castellated man,' ions according" as its porilion \aried with our proj^ress." The headland thus described was.S^o or i)(X) feet hi^h and <;i\'es an idea of the character of the sccner\- of the land to which tourist', of the future may ^2,0 to spend their holida\s. \^ iiie lu'e.sti- HOW DID OIK ARCTIC I'KOVINCK HKCOMK (iKIC AT BRITAIN'S .SO THAT THlv SI'ZI':KAIX HAD I'OWl'lK To Tk.\NSI'i:u IT TO CANADA ? Ho>-d Thacher sa\s "When we study the first westward sail- inj^s of liard\- Ivn>;lish navij^ators we are only readini; the title deeds of our beloved countr\-." This is true of all North America. It is emphatically true of Canada, .uul most em])hatically true of the Northern fringe of this portion of the British Lm])ire connnitted to our care by solenni instrument bearing; the si^i^nature of our 1)elo\'ed Oucen. In order to answer the (piestiou asked let u,^. stnd\- for a while the "sailings of the hardy navigators." 1 6 TRANSACTIONS i899-'oo From a very early date circuin-polar regions exercised a ])eculiar fascination over the men of the Knrojwan races. From I'n llieas to the Duke of tlie Abrnz/.i ; from 323 years before ■'bri,u;ht-liarnessed anj^els sat in order serviceal)le" around the Babe of H.tlilehem to this year of grace 1900 more than 170* sea- vo> ages and land journe^ ings and one balloon trip in high lati- tudes have been undertr'^n by different nations, by navigators sailing now in a vvestei y, now in an easterly course, or by ex- plorers pressing nortlr.vanl over land, now gliding smoothly down the litpiid highways of the wilderness, now running rapids and pi^rtaging cataracts, either, in search of new whaling gronnds and of polar water conununication, or for the purpose of wresting from the frozen, north its ice-imjirisoned secrets of climate, of mineral wealth and ocean life. Dani.sh, Dutch, Spanish ; Italian, Oreek, »Swedish ; Knglish, vScotch, & Irish ; French, Icelandic, Norwegian, P<^,rtuguese, Ru:'.sian, W'uetian ; Canadian and Unistoniamt explorers by sea and 1)\- land, during more than 20 centuries ha\-e taken ]iart in the^c attem])t:'. to make the Latly of the Icel)erg throne and the ;-,n()w diadcn their obedient \-a:',sal. In lordlx shi])s, strengthened and braced by every mechani- cal contri\'ance : in barks of small tomiage, in ])iiniaces that were the \ierie:.t cM)ckle-;;hells : in canoe and kayak ; in clinch and shallo]), and bond) and pink ; 1)> dog-train and by thht most ancient of ;ill method:; of trans])ortation, "r.haidc's nag" rre([Uent- ly called the "marrow 1)one stage" ; with .store-room sometimes ])r()\-ided for \tar;. of shar]) onslaught, soineiimes enrptx as the cu])board of that far-famed woman "old Mother Hubbard" when she \'isitt'il it. with benevolent intentions for her dog — hard\' and adventurous, .seamen and persi-lent landsmen ha\-e attacked circum-polar ;'.ea-'> from e\-er> cpiarter, intent U])on winning renown for themselves and profit for their nation. *Mr. C'li.'is. C". Smith, in ;i papiM ronl.iiiUMl in J nslin W'iiisor's Xarrativi' ;uiil C'litit'.'il llislory of Anii'iiv'a, slati's (hat sini'r I'liihislu-r's lime inoit" lltan 100 si'.a viiy.iiji's .iiiil iaiul joiii-nt'vs lia\i Ihmmi uiuli'ilaktMi in i|ui',sl ol" tlio \i)i'lli W'ost l'assat;V. I'o ilii^ nnniivM- must 1h adilrd tliosi- in st-aicli iif a N'ortti l'!asl Ivtssati*.'. I !''ornuHi iVoin llu- .vi>i"ils "I'nitcil Slates t>t' iWnili .\nuM-ii-a ' to a\oiil ilio use Dt'lliat \ci Indian niistil ".Ainoiii'.tn" si> utti-n iiscil io closinnali' tin* pi'upl'i ol oni- i-mintrx ot'llu' smiMiloen ov I'iLjlili'cn loiinlrit's of tliis W'l'sti'rn I kMiiis- piiei-c. iSqq-'oo i899-'c)o TRANSACTIONS 17 rcised a From ■i before unci the 70-'- sea- liji^li lati- ivigators • by ex- ily down pids and uids and in<; from ■ mineral Knglish, tnj^uese, rs by sea I ]iart in ■ and the necliani- hal were nch and liut nu)st i're((Uent- )metimes > as the tl" when ard)- and attacked ' renown i X.'irrativi' nu»it- lli.iii H'sl ol' llio I'arcli o\' a o a\iiiil llio ^v\\ llemis- A thousand place-names bestowed on headland and cape and prom(Kory, on gulf and strait and channel and bay, on river and lake, on islands great and islands small — some of them hoary with age l^efore Poutrincourt sailed into and named Port Royal, or Champlain dug the first cellar in Quebec, some of them but of yesterday, — testify to the unresting di)'\(ence with which the men of the past and of the present have soi lit fame and fortune in the Frozen Sea which tumbles round the' occult precincts of the elusive North Pole. Taken as a whole these place-names have been baptised in the death-throes of full 2,000 men who have lost their liv-es from starvation, from cold, from disease, from wild l^easts, from drown- ing and from murder most foul. On an average one human life has been sacrificed for each place-name gi\'en, possibly two for each. From the seventeen score of persons drowned on the voyage from Iceland to Greenland in 983-4 to the criminal taking off of Henry Hudson, his son and his seven faithful friends, by the mutinous crew of the "Discoverie" in the wild waters of the west coast of our District of Ungava ; from the fifty who perished on Marble Island, dying one by one till the last man fell dead as he tried to dig a grave for his comrade, to the ghastly find of 30 skeletons of men in an iilet appropriately named Starvation Cove by the horrified di.scoverers, and that other find by Eskimos in Terror Bay of a tent, the floor of which was completely covered \yith the bones of white men ; from the destruction of the remain- der of Franklin's men as with hunger-shrunk bodies they toiled homeward from Montreal island in the estuary of the Great Fish River, just under the Arctic Circle, down to the present time, precious human lives have been dropping, one by one, score by .score, into the abyssal depths of northern seas. Thousands of women have, like the psalmist, "eaten ashes for bread and mingled their drink with weeping" Ix-cau.se of the lo.ss of husband and .son and lover in voyages and expeditions of which these place-names are the memorial tablets, nor were their burdens lightened b} any Rudyard Kipling of the times with his song of "The Absent Minded Ik'ggar" of more value than many "cloths of gold," as a "pot boiler."* *The newspapers anmnmce that the "Absent Minded Beggar" produced for the war fund the sum of $485,000. i8 TRANSACTIONS i899-'oo Well and truly has Peter Sutherland, writing in 1850, said, "There is hardly an island on which one lands from the Arctic Circle to the top of Baffin Bay but it will be found in a manner consecrated by the remains of some British seamen over which the burial service has been read and a green mound has been raised and marked by a monument of which St. George's Cross is the most common form. Our friends buried within the Arctic Circle lie forgotten by all except perhaps their relatives, and un- visited save by the eider-duck which makes her nest among and on their graves." Since the worthy surgeon wrote this statement, yea, even while he was writing it, the circle of graves in the Arctic i.slands was much more widely extended. Through Barrow Straits and Melville Sound and McClure Straits, on the islands on both .sides, there are graves of British .seamen. Of the "Investigator's' ' crew five men died and Beechy Island and Cape Cockburn and Bay of Mercy, (Banks Land), hold their remains, while King William Land and other points hold 9 officers and 15 seamen of Franklin's fated expedition^ of the other i p8 men of Franklin's party who perished it may be said that their graves are scattered far and wide within the Arctic Circle. II. The Greeks were early in the field as northern navigator.s'for 320 or 323 years before Christ was born into this world, Pytheas, a Greek .sailor, contemporary with Alexander the Great, having learned the art of navigation in that early training .school of sea- men, the Mediterranean Sea, left Cadiz, (the oldest great city of' Europe, name coming from Gadet^^ meaning the "walled place"), then the chief Phoenician emjiorium, and cautiously felt his way along the coasts of Spain and Gaul and explored the shores of Great Britain. Among other things geographical he mentions as al)out six days' voyage from Great Britain, an island he calls Thule,* a place-name eml)edded in the history of place-names, as a fly in amber, by Virgil in the form of "Ultima Thule": "the farthest off land' ' of the navigator of more than two thou.sand two hundred years ago thus coming down to us, "the heirs of the ages, " as a frequently used expression to denote some far away goal difficult to reach. "From the Gothic word Tiule meaning "the most distant land. " We have several near relations of this word in common use, as, for instance. Telescope, Telegram, Telephone. i899-'oo TRANSACTIONS 19 The poet Thomson m "Autumn" refers to Pytheas's isle when he says : "Where the northern ocean in vast whirls Boils round the naked melancholy isles of furthest Thuk " The Irish, the Norwegians, the Swedes and the Danes were in the exploring business at an early date. Decuil in his book "de Mensura Orbis Terrarum," writing in 825 says "it is now 30 years since I was told by some Irish ecclesiastics who had dwelt in that island (viz. Iceland) from the ist Feby. to the ist of August that the sun scarcely set there in summer and that it always leaves light enough to do one's bu.siness." Naddodd, a Scandinavian pirate in 860 appropriately named the island Sneeland (Snovrland). The island was subsequently . visited by two Swedes Svofason and Flokko by whom the name was changed to Iceland which it has ever since retained. In 847 the Norwegians Ingolf and Lief were such lovers of freedom that they led a body of retainers there ; Where cheered by song and story dwelt they free And held unscathed their laws and liberty. Between 878 and 901 our own King Alfred justly .singled out ill England's emblazoned historic page as the "Great" (the only one of our 48 sovereigns so designated ) was trying to make his little Wcssex a model land .so that he "might"— to recall his dying word.s — "leave to the men that came after a remembrance of him in good works. ' ' We all know what he accomplished and all realize in the words of Greene that "the memory of the life and doings of the noblest of English rulers has come down to us living and distinct through the mist of legends and exaggerations that gathered round it." We can heartily endor.se Sir Walter Besant's view of him : ' 'There appears one who restores the better spirits of the people by his example, by his preaching, by his self sacrifice. There pas.ses in imagination before us a splendid procession of men and women who have thus restored a nation or raised its fallen ideals, but the greatest of them nil, the most noble, the mo.st godlike is that of the 9th century Alfred. There is none like Alfred in the 20 TRANSACTIONS i899-'oo -^ whole page of history, none with a record altogether so blameless, none so wise, none so human." Goldwin Smith in his latest historical work "The United Kingdom, a Political History," marvellous as a brilliant specimen of "picekd and packed words" says : "Made ubiquitous by his command of the sea which the English had now resigned, pouncing where he was least expected, sweeping the country before the national levies could be got to- gether and at last keeping permanent hold upon large districts, the Dane had brought the Knglish kingdom to the verge of de- struction when ;i heroic deliverer arose in the person of Alfred, the model man of the Knglish race. Round the head of Alfred a halo has gathered ; his history is panegyric .; yet there can be no doubt of his greatness as a saviour of his nation in war, as a re- organizer of its institutions of wl ch pious fable has made him the founder, as a restorer of its leai'ning and civilization^-^ In the development of his wide-reaching aims, he became the founder of the .science of geography in England and .sent out Othere, a Norwegian sea captain, on a voyage of exploration in the course of which he di.scovered, about S90 A. D., the White Sea, so named because of its proximity to sterile regions white with driven snow and dazzling ice.* Thus early did England become associated with circum-polar seas. About 876 an Icelandic wanderer, Gunnbjornt l)y name, blown out of his course by a blizzard like those which worry the life out of the people of Nebraska, Dakota and Minnesota, was compelled to pass the winter ice-blocked in an inlet of an unknown land. He and his crew, released by the welcome forces of sum- mer, returned to tell to wondering friends the tale of their residence in the "thrilling regions of thick-ribbed ice." ■ ^. Kin^^ Altri>d'.s .iciouiit of the vovag^es of Othort; and Wulfstaii in hi.s adaf^ion of llu' universal history of Orosi'us. .TIk- Kinjf's atcoimt is ifiviMi as he lieard the voyages recounted by the adventurers themselves. jWe have on our charts in a very mutilated form a place-name com- memorative of Gunnbjorn in Gomberj< Scheer ((.'lunnbjot n's Skerry) nowadays a dang-erous reef away up north — in hi« time a true skerry before a seismic disturbance blew it into flinders. (See Kipling's " Lightsi yf England" for "Skerry.") meless, United »eciiuen ich the :pected, got to- istricts, e of de- Alfred. Alfred a u be no as a re- ide liini anie the ient out )n in the lite Sea, ite with mi-polar name, jrry the )ta, was nknown of suni- esidence [ail ill his u^iviMi as luc com- lowadays a seismic iiid," for i899-'oo TRANSACTIONS il Eric Raude, (Red Eric), an Icelander, had heard by the fire- sides of his father and neighbours the story of Ouiuibjorn's ad- ventures and when he was convicted of manslaughter before the lliornaes Titifr or Judicial assembly, of Iceland and sentenced to banishment for a term of years he bethought him of the story and resolved to pass the time of his sentence in exploring the un- known land. He doubled the cape, called by Gunnbjorn Hjird- saerk (known to modern whalers as Cape Farewell) and i lo years after Gunnbjorn' s unwilling voyage gave the lind the curious name of Greenland, or its equivalent in his native tongue. When Eric, the red-headed son of a viking, called the country Green- land he was not afflicted with colour-blindness, nor did he see it through green spectacles, nor was he in a sarcastic mood as sail- ors are wont to be when disappointed. He so named the fiord into which he had penetrated, because the land around it was clad in living green, the season being the prime of summer time and the grass wearing its liveliest emerald suit. Purchas in "his Pilgrimage" says "Greenland is a place in nature nothing like unto the name ; for certainly there is no place in the world yet known and discovered that is less green than it. " Sir John Ross .says of an island off the Greeidand Coast .still farther north than Eric's fiord : " The island was a far finer ob- ject than our former experience of it at an earlier, and perhaps in a worse, .season, had given us reason to expect on this icy coast and reminded us in a lively manner of the far fairer land (Eng- land) which we had quitted but a month before and of the sum- mer which we believed we had left behind. Ev'ery practicable part of the surface, even the smallest spot which was not a pure precipice or a .sea rock, was covered with verdure, while a profu- sion of wild plants, now in full and luxuriant blossom, rendered that a sununer garden, which we expected to find ( what we l;ad often done before) a chaos of rugged rocks and cold snow. We therefore no longer wondered at those who had given the name of Greenland to a country which others, as well as ourselves, had long thought to have been ridiculed by such .a denomination. It was in truth a Greenland. " You see it is the old .story of the di.sputo about the color of the chamelion and about the gold and silver .shield. ii Transactions i899-'oo I may remark here that it is quite a common happening for a place-name originally applied to a small section of country to be given, in process of time, a wider range so as to become the dis- tinguishing geographical term for a much larger area, and this happened in the case of Greenland, the whole peninsula receiv- ing its name' from Eric's fiord. Our own place-name " Canada " is "an example to the purpose quite." It was originally, ac- cording to Jacques Cartier, the name an Indian tribe gave to their movable, easily transplanted collection of wigwams. It became in time the name of two great Provinces. It is the designation of a country extending west and east from Cabot and Belleisle Straits to Mount St. Elias and Queen Charlotte Islands, and north and south from Pelee Island to Grinnell Land, with an area nearly one third of the whole area of the British Empire, not including the Transvaal and the Trans-Orange Provinces. No doubt the humor of it has kept the original Norse name of Greenland from displacement. Eric was so pleased with his Greenland that he returned to Iceland and gathering together a number of his fellow-islanders, set out for his emerald fiord with a fleet of 25 vessels, like the one Froude has described from a specimen "which he saw and saw again" at Christiania, exhumed from its peaty grave where it had rested nigh unto a thousand years. But ruthless ice-bergs and angry winds destroyed and greedy waves .swallowed up eleven of Eric's vessels with their human cargoes of 300 or 400 soul.s — the first recorded body of emigrants to come to North American shores — the first great loss of life on our coasts which have since wit- nessed .so many terrible wrecks. The other ves.sels succeeded in reaching the desired haven with 400 or 450 persons who began housekeeping on the west coast just north of the i.sland we know as Cape Farewell. In course of time these first settlers and others who joined them branched out to the next fiord and then to the next and then be- gan another settlement 400 miles further north in just about the same latitude as our youngest city, Daw.son City, in far famed Klondike. After an existence of more than 400 years the Greenland settlements were given their coup de grace by the Eskimos, and all that now remains a.s evidences of the 300 farmsteads, the two i899-'oo TRANSACTIONS ^i villages and the 14 churches and one cathedral are the ruins of a few stone houses and of the Kakortok Cathedral church "where the credo was intoned and censers swung while not less than ten generations lived and died.* Bjarni Hergulfson, another Icelander, on his way from Ice. land to Eric's settlement to see his father, driven by storms out of his course, sighted land far to the south and slowly made his way back north to Greenland, seeing land occasionally as he went. Interested in the account of Bjarni' s adventures, Lief, the son of Eric, sailed in the summer of 1000 to the south till he came to a land of slate. This he called Helluland or Slate land. Pursu- ing his voyage southward he came to another country which he called Mark land or Wood land. Then turning west he reached a third region which he named Vinland, because wild grapes grew there. He had skirted the shores of Labrador, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. The Icelanders, the Norwegians and the Swedes — the men of the north — having shown the way, the men of the south put in their claim to good seamanship, possibly led by that instinct which has ever influenced the dwellers in one /one to search the countries of other zones for purpose of trade ; as witness the colossal j^rocesses of Empire-building now right merrily going on, the greatest the world has ever seen ; the Russians, the Germans, the French and the English nations (the Unistoniams not by any means to be omitted) all stretching out their hands for tropical countries and watching each other with keen eyes lest in the partition of Africa and the breaking up of China any one should get bigge. pieces than the others. Canada, having consolidated herself from ocean to ocean by the successful achievement of the great work of Confederation, bristling as it was with many dif- ficulties, is not without signs that she too may feel herself drawn by the magnetic force of dissimilarity, with its con.sequent natural expansion of trade, to enfold within her embrace the British Tropical West Indies. Whatever the innpelling cause the men of the south in that day and time in the history of the European people essayed to explore the north, the process being the opposite of that of the present era when the movement is from north to south. *Fisko's "Discovery of America." i H Transactions i899-'oo The Venetians, Nicolo and Antonio Zeno (1384-94) — the first of tliat ^lorions sextet (Cohnnbus, Vespuccius and the Cabots and the Zenos) of Italian navigators to put the world under deep obligations to them for discoveries extending the knowledge of the earth's surface — did a little ex])loring the account of which, for a long time believed to be fa1)ulous, is in recent years consider- ed to be genuine. Antonio and Nicolo at different times visited Greenland. Whether either of them visited the mainland of the continent or any of our i.slands is in doubt. The two Cabots, John and Sebastian his son, hold the first place in point of time* and in many respects the first in importance from a Canadian .standpoint. John Cabot in 1497 di.scovered the South Eastern coast of the present Dominion of Canada, landing on the coast of Cape Breton, so it seems to be .settled by a writer in the ' ' Encyclopaedia Britannicat ' ' and an increasing number of the ablest writers. Wherever he made his landfall, he did .so, it is contended by John Fi.ske:j:, on the .same day of the .same year that Americo Vespuccius first saw the South American continent with which his name was first associated through a curious error of a German cosmographer, to be subsequently extended to the northern part of this western hemisphere, which ought, in agree- ment with the eternal fitness of things, to memori/e John Cabot, who first took po.sse.ssion in the name of King Henry VII of England. Sebastian Cabot who accompanied his father on thisocca.sion, made another voyage in 149.S. He appears to have studied care- fully the whole subject. His father's inquiries among the Ice- landic sailors who frequented the Port of Bristol had led him, in all probability, to conclude that the shortest way to land beyond the Atlantic was by the old Norse tiack. Sebastian profiting by his father's ob.servations and being himself a man of genius con- cluded to .sail northward. He left Bristol in May, 1498 and head- ed for Iceland. On arriving there he steered for Cape Farewell *The application of John Cabot for letters patent in favour of himself and his three sons, Louis, Sebastian and Sani'tus is the earliest docuinenl of the archives of the Colonial Empire of Great Britain. — Goldwin .Smith, "The United Kinj^dom, a political history." tC. f. J. Winsor s Narr. and Critical Hist. Am. Vol. Ill pagfes 23, 24. XC f. J. Fiske's Discovery of America Vol. II pag'o 87. ■i 1 iH99-'oo .-94) — the he Cabots nder deep wledge of of which, s consider- >reenland. itinent or I the first tnportaiice )vered the I, landing ' a writer g number lie did so, same year continent ions error ded to the in agree- lin Cabot, ry VII of ■(occasion, died care- g the Ice- d him, in id beyond ofiting by mills con- and head- Farewell himself and nent of the mith, "The 23. 24- i899-'oo TRANSACTIONvS 25 from whicli cape he attempted to force a passage to the north, in the course of which he seems to have discovered the great strait now called Hudson vStrait. Having failed to find the passage he sought, though he went a full degree north of the Arctic Circle and within 22 j4 degrees of the North Pole, he sailed southward for full 900 miles along our magnificent eastern sea-front, Goniara relates that Cal)ot had with him five vessels and 300 men. the latter intended to form a colony. Thevet, a F'rench cosmo- grapher, says Cabot 1: ided these emigrants where the cold was so intense that nearly the whole company perished, although it was the month of July. If it be true that he put them ashore and that they ])erished, then these men must be added to Ivric's 350 already mentioned as lost in the attempt to discover and people the northern regions of the Canadian Dominion. Sebastian returned to Bristol, having made the very first voyage ever made with the specific oliject of finding a North West pa.ssage. He thus stands out prominently not only as the companion of his father in the voyage which led to the discovery of .south eastern Canada, but also as the first man who divined that this continent was no outlyer of the Asian continent, as Columbus supposed, but was a huge barrier between Western Europe and Kastern Asia. He was also fore-runner of a long and illustrious line of seamen who, during more than two centuries sought for a short cut to A.sia by a polar passage from east to west. In the later years of his life after Edward VI in 1549 grant- ed him a pension and created him King'-- Grand Pilot he con- ceived another idea, viz. of .seeking the way to Eastern Asia by a North Ea.st Passage. The commercial association to which Cal)ot's genius and influence gave rise called theni.selves "The Company of Merchant Adventurers*." They received a charter of incorporation in 1554-5. I" i^SS^^ they obtained an Act of Parliament incorporating them as the " Fellowship of English Merchants for Di.scovery of New Trades," a title under which, they continue incorporated though they are better known as the *One of (hose trading associations wliich sprunj^ from the nocessitifs of the times when the sea was still an elemeilt outside of law and where to tratle in safety it was neeilfiil to orj>fanize asst>eialion>i each stronj^ enoug-h to form a sea power, for piracy was common and half licensed and mariners of different nations warred with each other thouj^-h their g-overnments were at peace. — G. Smith. 26 TRANSACTIONS l899-*O0 Muscovy or Russian Company. Cabot became Life Governor, and because of his position and experience had much to do in shaping the poHcy and preparing the plans of the company. He in.structed the captains in the company's service to observe closely the variations of the magnetic needle and for that purpose introduced the Log Book, declared to be the most admirable of all the inventions for the furtherance of the science of navigation, ranking, probably, in the minds of practical seafaring men next to the three " L's " of the sailor, the Lead, the Log and the Lookout. The first expedition the Company despatched was that of Willoughby and Chancellor in 1553, before they obtained their charter. The departure of the pioneers with their three Bonas — Edward Bonar'ctiturc, Bona Iisperan:::a and Bona Coiifidcntia , as their ships were named, is described by a reporter of the day ; " At Greenwich the common people flocked together ; the courtiers ran out ; the Privy Council looked out of the windows , and the others ran up to the tops of the towers. The ships shot off their ordinance in.somuch that the hills .sounded therewith. The valleys and the waters gave an echo and the mariners shout- ed .so that the sky rang again with the noise thereof. From every point of vantage on shipboard the men wave their farewells. One stands on the poop of the ship and by his gestures bids farewell to his friends. Another walks ujion the hatches. Another climbs the shrouds. Another stands upon the main yard and another in the maintop" — and thus with cheering and waving of hats and hands the vessels pa.ss on and out of the historic river on their perilous voyage. Thus has it ever been when Britain sends out her ' ' Tommy Atkins ' ' and her ' ' Jack Tars ' ' to encounters in which there are sure to be dangers and likely to be deaths. Sir Hugh Willoughby di.scovered Nova Zembla — or as it is called now Novaya Zemlya, "the Newland," attempted to winter in Lapland and perished with the crews of his two ships. In all 70 men were frozen to death. The poet says of the cold that it To the cordaffe joined The sailor, and the pilot to the helm," and thus, two years after, .some Laplanders found Willoughby's ships uninjured, as sound as when they sailed away from the Thames followed by the hearty good wishes of high and low. T i899-'oo Governor, h to do in l)any. He to observe lat purpose irable of all navigation, len next to g and the vas that of ained their ee Bonas — ^ fide n tin, as af the day ; :ether ; the : windows , ships shot therew^ith. iners shout- Froni every wells. One ds farewell ther climbs another in )f hats and er on their ' ' Tommy h there are -or as it is tempted to two ships. cold that it illonghby's from the and low. i899-'oo TRANSACTIONS t1 But the 70 dead l)odies all silent gave no welcoming cheer to the ' Laps. They had died at their ]x>sts like Knglishmen, Chancellor explored the White Sea to the mouth of the " Dwina, " left his vessels and travelled overland to Moscow, tried the journey a second time and was drowned when returning to England in 1556. Interest attaches to the expedition of Willoughby and Chancellor because of Sebastian Calx)t's connectioti with it. Cabot drew up the instructions for the conduct of the expedition being too old and infirm to take personal command. He did not confine himself to the scientific part. One clause in his in- structions directs that " no blaspheming of (iod, or detestable .swearing be used in any ship, nor comnvunication of ribaldry, filthy tales or ungodly talk be suffered in the company of any ship ; neither dicing, tabling, carding or other devilish games to be frequented whereby ensueth not only poverty to tie players, but also strife, variance, brawling, fighting and oftentimes murder, to the destruction of the parties and provoking of God's wrath and .sword of vengeance. ' ' In the .same year that witnes.sed the drowning of Chancellor ; we catch a glimpse of the first navigator to look upon the shores of the Arctic fringe of Canada from an Knglish .ship. In that year Stephen Burroughs, who had .sailed with Chancellor, was .sent to the north in a small pinnace called Senrchthrift. Previous to .sailing from Gravesend, the right worshipful Sebastian Cabot and a large party of ladies and gentlemen paid a visit to the ve.s.sel and afterwards, .says the chronicler, "the good old gentle- man, Ma.ster Cabot, gave a banquet, at which for very joy that he had .seen the towardness of their discovery, he entered into y the dance him.self among the rest of the young and lu.sty com- pany." The "good old gentleman" was then over eighty years ; old. I have dealt thus lengthily with Sebastian Cabot, ist, in order 'I to bring all the relevant events of his life together for the pur- At. _,l po.se of .showing that in the discoverer of the eastern side of the j country now called the Dominion of Canada, we have a hero of i whom we may be proud and justly so, and, 2nd, To show that M his discovery first at its south-east corner and then at its north- 2R TRANSACTIONS i899-'oo east corner is the foundation of the claim that iCiiKhand made in after years to the proprietorshi]) of this coinitry inchidin^ Hudson Hay and the islands forming "our northern fringe." The Cabots' voyages were the first of those westerly sailings vvliich are the title deeds of Canada as the lunpire's Trustee. When the union of the i)rovinces after many years of dis- cussion, more or less polemic and academical, came within the sphere of practical politics by the assembling in iH6«; in the city of (2uel)ec of the body of public men known to us of the present generation as "The P'athers of Confederation" — a sadly minished body to-day — there was much talk and much writing in the tiewspapers about the name by which the young auxiliary riation should be known. Among many suggested, Cabotia seemed, •-'specially in the east, to be the favourite. Other considerations rather than historic justice dominated the minds of the "Fathers," and the place-name "Canada" was selected and given the wider application to suit the new conditions. We have not altogether .slighted the memory of the first navigator who sailed along the eastern .sea-front of this country. In the more recent maps of the Dominion the name Cabot vStrait, to designate the pa.ssage connecting the gulf of vSt. Lawrence and the Atlantic Ocean between Ca])e Breton and New- foundland, fittingly conunemorates the earliest di.scoverpr of this country. It is, I believe, the only Cabot ])lace-name in Canada. Perha])s when the United vStates take their place within the Empire the part of the continent staked off for the Britishers — Canada included — may receive the general name of Cabotia. Who knows ? To go back to our story. In 1500-01 a Portuguese explorer, Gaspar Cortereal, moved thereto by knowledge of the Cabots' voyages of 1497 and 1498 and by desire to see if some of the land vi.sited by Cabot lay ea.st of Borgia's Meridian^'' and could there- *Borsfi,'i'.s Bull was ,'i clocroe issiu^d by Rodrig'a R(.irj»-ia, I'cipe Alexander VI., by virtue of whieli Spain had conferred on lier Sovereiji'n.s the possession of all lands iliseovered or to be discovered lyinj";^ west of a ineriiliafi i oo U'aj^-iies to the west of the Azores and Cape V'erd Islantls. .-V year after (1494) the line was removed to a distance 370 leajfues west of the Cape V'erd Islands, This would correspond to a line between the 41st and the 44th meridians west of Greenwich. East of this line lands discovered, or to be discovered, be- long^ed to Portug^al and west of it to Spain. iSyy-'*"^ iH99-'oo TRANSACTIONS 29 1(1 tnndc ill iiic'ludinj; iiiRe." irly sailinj^s riistce. ;irs of (lis- withiii the ; in the city the present y niinished ing in the iary inition tia seemed, isiderations Is of the d and given of the first nt of this 1 the name 1 j^ndf of vSt. n and New- ;irpr of this in Canada. ; within tlie Britishers — of Cabotia. ^e explorer, :he Cabots' of the land :onld there- pe Alexander lie possession m ioolea^"nes or ( 1494) the I'erd Islands, eridiaiis west scovered, be- fore be claimed by Portnj;al. set out on a voyaj^fe to the Labrador coast, touched at Greenland, and possible entered Hudson .Straits and the j^ulf of St. Lawrence, ])erishin}( on his secontl voyage with all his crew. His brother Miguel in 1502 with three shijjs going in search of him met the same fate, the two of stock, he Earl of lip Sidney, icliael Lok /20,000. ;d so wide- y the truly ic research ial mention of the age. )f the men ler's Arctic after the staunch little vessel that had carried him thus far in safety. This is the first place-name given in the high latitudes of North Canada that has remained. Cabot called the strait Rio Nevado* — the river of snow — and Cortereal named it the Anian Straitt believing it, from its outrushing water, to be the eastern or lower end of the passage through which a vessel might go to Cathay. But the Cabot name never fastened itself, and the Cortereal name .so confused the geogrnphers that by 1556 it was applied to the north and .south passage between A.sia and this continent to continue so applied till it, too, found a place in the ash-heap of lapsed and and di.scarded names, Behring's name being properly substituted, though not before many a navigator had vainly hunted high and low for the Anian. Strait on both sides of this continent. On this voyage Frobisher named Prior's Sound, Thomas William's Island and the Five Men's Sound, in which latter body of water was one Island he named Trumpet Isle, and a second he called Butcher's Island. He landed on the la.st named on the 19th August, and on going to the top of it to see if there were any people or no. he says "he had sight of .seven boates which came rowing from the ea.st .side." With the occujiants of these he made acquaintance r nd gave them "thridden points" (.sewing needles). This was the first accpiaintance of Englishmen with our fellow subjects the Eskimos, and of the E.skimos with the pre- deces.sor of the modern needle which plays or plies .so important a part in domestic economy that like the telephone we don't know how the world got along without it. Frobisher de.scribe.i the na- tives : " They be like the Tartars, with long Ijlack haire, broad faces, and flat no.ses, and tawnie in colour, wearing .sealskins as r.se to the swept the y overtook her north- i's rugged at land to • known as iel Island, •Cortereal is suppo.sed by some to luive named the str.iilM (Hudson) Kio Nevado, aiid Dr. Rieliardsoii says the name Xevaiio nas been transferred to some mountainous islaiuls on the nortli side lliat evt'ii in sunun'M- are covered witli snow. I have fo'lowed Asher ("Henry Hudson, the Navij^ator," P''iK« ^57-) IThere has been mu( li diseussion about tite derivation of this word. The most j>fenerally aceejited idea is tliat mentio.ed above. It has often oeeurred to me that Cortereal possibly named llu- strait Anian, not because of its sup- posed end of a passajfe throuxi'h the continent, but because of the j'^real number of eider and other duck he founil liiere ; tluit bini being' ornilholog'i- cally a member of the anas family — anas molussima. -» 32 TRANSACTIONS i899-'oo also doe the women, not differinj^ in fashion from the men, but the women are marked in the faces with blene streakes down the cheeks and round about the eies," — from all which it is apparent that sealskin coats, made to look like men's, and painted cheeks are no modern fashion among the women of this continent. The first wearers and users, our comeh' sisters of the northern fringe of Canada, set the fashion no one knows how many centuries ago. " On the 2oth day." continues Frobisher, " we wayed and went to the east .side of the island," where they saw the Eskimo's hou.ses. One of the natives returned to the Gabriel with them and to him they gave a " belt and a jack-knife and then ordered five men to put him ashore at a rocke and not among the company (of the Ivskimos) but their wilfulene.ss was such that they would goe to them and so were taken themselves and we lo.st our boate. ' ' ' ' The next day in the morning we stoode in near the shore and sliotte off a fauconet and sounded our triniji^et but we could heare nothing of our men. This .sound we therefore called the Five Men's Sound." The fate of the five men is unknown ; whether they .settled down and took to themselves Eskimo wives and left a white strain in the blood of the natives or whether they were eaten without salt or roasting no one knows ; no trace of them was ever found. Trumpet Island was probably so called becau.se of the echo of the sounding trumi)et the island's ])recipitous .sides returned as the messmates of the five a])ducted seamen sought to inform the unfortunate quintet of their whereabouts. This firsc acquaintance with our brothers and sisters of the seal-skin garment has not been improved or deepened since. We know in a general .sort of a way tliat there are about 4,000 of them included in our population and even that is an estimate now 30 years old. Missionaries have gone from Canada to the heathen of A.sia and Africa but to the.se little people of the land of the white bear we have paid .scant or no attention. Dr. Richard.son and McClure and Armstrong found them ver>- luiwilling to cultivate closer relations with tlie Kabloonas, or white men, " be- cause the white men gave them water that killed tliem," to which fateful gift they have decided objection. Possibly by preserving a " splendid isolation " they have increased and nuiltiplied. But they have been left to their pagani.sm by the mi.ssion societies, ahnost their onh- point of contact with white men ))eing at Her.schell I.sland near Mackenzie River where whaling ships often i899-'oo iSgg-'oo TRANSACTIONS 33 2 men, but 5 down the is apparent ted cheeks iient. The hern fringe ituries ago. wayed and le Eskimo's with them len ordered lie company they would our boate." ir the shore nt we could called the they settled white strain ten without ever found. )f the echo returned as inform the sters of the since. We )ut 4,000 of stimate now the heathen land of the Richardson iiwilling to men, " be- i," to which r preserving ])lied. But in societies, n being at [ ships often winter, and possibly on the Labrador coast where the Moravians have established missions. The Indian Department here has not brought them within its fold. In fact the Innuits of Canada's northern fringe may truly say ' ' no man careth for our souls and yet they are the most interesting of all the races on this con- tinent for many reasons that cannot be given in detail.* Having to abandon the men, Frobisher returned to England taking with him some gold which may be considered the first Tlis- covery of the yellow metal on the Arctic slope of the country known as the Dominion of Canada, the harbinger of the coming time when in a single season more men rushed towards Canada's part of the Arctic Circle for the gold of the Klondike than during four centuries manned all the barques of all nations seeking fame and the North West and North East passages to Cathay and the land of the tea plant. In conse([uence of the rumors which soon circulated of the value of the "find" great enthusiasm prevailed in England, and Frobisher had no difBculty in obtaining the means for another expedition. The Queen contributed ^1,000 and loaned a ship of 200 tons from the Royal Navy. With this shij) and his former vessels and a complement of 120 men, Frobisher sailed and arrived at Hall's Island on the third week of July, 1577. He named the Island after the captain of the Royal ship ; the Queen's Foreland in honour of Queen Elizabeth, and Best Island after his second lieutenani, who was also the chronicler of Frobisher' s second vo\age. His own name was given to Frobisher Strait, the belief l)eing that it was a strait, and not, as we now know it to be, a bay. Jackman Sound was named after the master gunner of the "Aide," the Royal shi]i. At one stopping place the Eskimos made a fierce assault upon his men ' 'with their bowes and arrowes. " In self-defence he wounded three of the natives. These fearing to be captured, in their desperation leaped off the rocks into the sea. "We named the place Bloody Point, and the bay or harbour Yorke Sound, the latter after the Captain of the Michael." *I have recenUy learned thai (he Anjfliean Church has two or more Missions among the Innuits of our Northern Fringe. 34 TRANSACTIONS i899-'oo The chief ol)ject of this exjK-dition was to collect "black earth" to be taken home and tested for gold. They anchored in a fair harbor, which they named Anne Warwick's Sonnd, giving the name also to an island in honour of the Countess of Warwick , who, with her husband the Karl, had enthusiastically promoted the first exjK'dition . " -i= After filling up with l)lack earth and making earnest but fruitless efforts to discover the fate of the five men, Frobisher returned to Ivngland where he was greeted with great en- thusiasm, the Queen naming the great island from which the "ore"t was chiefly obtained, Mcta Incognita, and throwing a chain of gold around Frobisher' s neck. A larger expedition was planned, and in 157.S Frobisher .sailed on his third voyage with two of the Queen's ships, one of 400 tons and the other of 200 tons burden. Besides these, thirteen vessels of various sizes accomi)anied him. With him were 120 jMoneers and 400 other men. of whom 100 were design- ed for the si)ecial task of forming a colony. These were landed in Frobisher Bay, and at the time were con.sidered to be "the first known Christians that we have true notice of that ever .set foot on the soil" of that part of the Dominion of Canada. Things however, did not turn out according to expectation. One of the shi]>s was lost. Ten persons died. The others ajv pear to have resolved not to remain. Storm>- winds and danger- ous ice frightened them. On one occasion the chronicler says, "Thus continued we all that dismal and lamentable night in this perplexitie looking for instant death." October found the joyful survivors with their feet on ICnglish .soil ; and so ended one of the early efforts of the sturdy Ivnglish in the line of colonizing, a line in which from natiu'al aptitude, and after long and sometimes bitter experience, they have no tHjual among the nations , Spain, France and Italy all failing, and Germany- as yet giving no great evidence of special *Captain Hall in 1860-62 disiovi-ivd tin- ivinaiiis of the stono luniso which FrohishiM- built on Countess of Waruiiks Islam! !•> 1577, as well as otlier relii's of llu" ureat navij^ator. These latter ho sent to Knj^land ; a more appropriate re.stinjf place for them would be Ottawa, the Federal capital. fThe worthlessness o^ I'lobisher's ore resulted in luckless Michael I-ok beinx unable to redeem his suretyship. He was cast into Fleet prison, a catastrophe which invohed himself and his fifteen children in ruin. iSgg-'oo i899-'oo TRANSACTIONS 35 ect "black anchored in iiid, giving f Warwick , y promoted earnest but Frobisher great en- which the throwing a >> Frobisher ips, one of ddes these, With him i'ere design- vere landed 1 to be "the lat ever set ida. ^expectation, e others ap- and danger- iniclcr says, light in this leir feet on the sturdy roni natural rience, they tid Italy all ^e of s 10 house which well as other laiul ; a more al (.-apital. i Michael Lok leet prison, a [ill. readiness and skill as a colonizer of the waste places of tlie earth « It has been said that the Russians are the best linguists of Europe because ever\' other language is so eas>' in comparison with their own. Possibly the British have found it easier to colonize the whole earth liecause their earlier efforts were directed to the bleak parts ; after conquering these it was child's play to conquer the rest. Frobisher took back to England the information that be- tween 62 and 63 on the eastern side of North America a wide entrance existed, navigable for hundreds of miles, and that a still broader and more navigable entrance had been found Ijetween 60* and 62. "ihis information was more than sufficient to raise the mo.st lively hopes of a through ])assage and the most ardent aspirations towards its discovery, especially in an age that may well be said to have given birth to the buoyancy and elas- ticity of spirit by which the English nation has since become so great. ""^^ Though Frobisher exerted himself to his utmost to .secure the means for a larger expedition ; though he was sui)ported in his efforts by England's great seaman, Francis Drake, who offered ^1,000, when he could ill afford it ; and though the Earl of Leicester subscribed ^^3,000, the enterpri.se came to naught ; and thus pa.sses out of our specially Canadian .story, the man Frol)isher, who is justly regarded as one of England's great naval heroes. He had the Yorkshireman's faculty for getting on in the world. After he abandoned Arctic exploration he connnanded a ship in vSir Francis Drake's expedition to the West Indies and in 1 5lish navigators whose explora- tions are "title deeds" was John Davis. John Davis was l)orn in Devon, that fniitfnl mother of great seamen, whose impress upon the history of Kngland is out of all proportion to the population of the eounty.''" By them New- foundland was diseovered. These adventurous old Devonshire sailors year by year left their little ports to rea]) the harvest of the seas along the shores of the great island, whieh in their homely way they called the "new found land." liy them the ancient colon>- was largely peopled in the first instance. Prow.se in his history of Newfoundland says, "Many ]>eculiarities of the colony can he traced to our Devonshire forefathers." One of these, germaine to our subject, is that all the lakes in New- foundland are called ponds, the reason for which is that in the .south west of Kngland there are no lakes, only ponds, a curious transfer of a familiar name from one side of the ocean to another. From Devon came the friend and playmate of John Davis, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, whose pathetic fate off our south eastern Canadian coast is told in song and story which have enlisted in his behalf the sympathies of the school bo>s and .school girls of Canada from the time of the first English school in Halifax 150 years ago. From Devon also came Gilbert's half brother, Sir Walter Raleigh, who plaiuied the strategy which conquered the Spanish Armada, and whose fame is connnemorated by a tablet erected in Westminster Abbey on which is inscribed, "Raleigh, the founder of the Knglish Kmpire in America." Another Devon man was vSir Francis Drake, the first of Knglishmen to circumnavigate the globe, the vice-admiral of the Knglish fleet when the vSpanish Armada swept the British Channel, intent on the invasion of the British Lsles. Sir Redvers Buller, who ])lanned the three marvellous .springs of the British Lion at his prey, on Dec. loth (Gatacre's) Fith (Methuen's) and 14th (Buller's) — which, when the .sad cla.sh of *l")evoiishiii', lht> coiinly of croam, has well been called tlio cream of counties, (von) the illiislrious men and history-makers it has produced, and it is still as prolific o\' sailors and soldiers as it was in the days of Drake and Raleijfh and the other west county paladins of the j^ootl Queen Bess. « H99-'oo xplora- )f great t of all n New- oiishire rvest of in their leni the Prowse h of the One of n New- L in the curious another. 1 Davis, 1 eastern listed in 1 i^iris of lifax 150 r Walter Spanish [ erected ;igii, the first of al of the ; British s springs :'s) nth . clash of o cream o( lhI, and it Drake and s. i899-'oo TRANSACTIONS 37 f arms of British and Boer on vSouth African veldt and daal and boschveldt shall have passed into history, will, I believe, be deem- ed wonderful though unsuccessful displays of energy — is also one of Devon's treasured sons. John Davis, one of the greatest navigators, was associated with Sir Walter Raleigh and Adrian Gilbert in a charter granted them by Queen Elizabeth in 15S4 for "the discovery of a new North West passage to China." Their interest in the enterprise was awakened b>- a book on the possibility of the discovery- of a new North West passage written by Sir Humphrey Gilbert. William Sanderson, who had mr-.nied Raleigh's niece, supplied the greater part of the needed funds. On June 7th, 15S5, their ex- pedition left the Devonshire port of Dartmouth. It con.sisted of two barks, the Sunshiiie of London ( 50 tons ) and the Moonshine of Dartmouth (35) tons). They were determined to have some sort of shine to keep them comixany and a very good resolve it is, not only on Arctic voyagings but in all life's daily round. On July 2oJth, writes John Janes, merchant-servant to the worshipful Master William .Sanderson, "as we sailed along the coast ( of Greenland ) the fogge Ijrake up and we disco\-ered the land which was the most deformed, rocky and mountainous land that we ever saw. The first sight whereof did shewe as if it had been in forme of a sugar loafe standing to our sight above the cloudes, for that it did shewe over the fogge like a white lifte (rift) in the .sky, the tops altogether covered with snowe and the shore beset with yce ( ice ) a league off in the .sea making such urksome noise as that it seemed to lie the true patterne of desola- tion and after the same our captain named it the Land of Desolation." In accordance with a not unconnnon experience this place- name is now ai)])lied not to the whole region but to one ])articular spot, a headland called Cape Desolation. On the 6th August, Janes writes " Ancho"ed in a very fair rode under a very brave mountain the cliffs whereof were as orient as gold. This mount was named Mount Raleigh. The rode wherein our ships came to an anker was called Totness Rode. The .sound wiiich did compass the mount was named Kxeter vSound. The foreland towards the north was named Cape Dyer and that towards the .south vvas named CajK' Wal.singham." Hi 38 TRANSACTIONS i899-'oo ii The mount was, of course, named in honour of Sir Walter Raleigh who would have l^een with the expedition but the yueen would not let him go, being unwilling to deprive her court and herself of his handsome presence and his beautiful legs. Totness Road was named after Totness near Dartmouth, proba])ly because their ships had been fitted out there. Kxeter Sound connnemorated the chief town of their loved Devonshire. Cape Walsingham received its name in honour of Sir Francis Walsingham, one of Queen Elizabeth's famous statesmen, a diplomat often at his wit's end through Queen ICli/.abeth's ex- traordinarj- vacillations, yet serving her and his dearly loved England with great energy and wisdom and with a stout in- dependent English heart. He had endeared himself to Davis be- cause of the help he had given to Sir Henry Hakluyt and other navigators in their voyages of discovery. Cape Dyer was named after a personal friend. Sir Edward Dyer, Chancellor of the Order of the Garter. On the 14th August, Janes writes, " we came to the most southerly cape of this land which we named Cape of God's Mercy as being the place of our first entrance from the dis- covery"; meaning that having explored the strait now called Davis Strait and from a point within the Arctic Circle having gone south homeward bound they desired in this way to express their gratitude to God for their preservation. Those old-style sailors were God-praising men, in their own way. The coast line they had explored was named Cumberland and the .sound of which Cape of God's Mercy is the northern headland they named Cum])erland Sound, after another friend of Davis, George Cliflford, Earl of Cuml)erland. From Cape of God's Mercy they returned to England and were able to report that they had .sailed round the .southern point of Greenland, had gone north along the west coast of Greenland to Gilbert Sound which Davis so named in remem])rance of his old playmate, the hapless Sir Humphrey, who had ji. ished in the foundering of his little 10 ton vessel, the Squirrel, off the coast of Nova Scotia encouraging his men by calling out ' ' we are as near heaven by sea as l)y land"; had crossed the strait now called Davis Strait and had reached the western shores of the continent on the 6th August, at Cape Walsingham, and had explored the i899-'oo TRANSACTIONS 39 coast for several days, leaving on the 24tli August, and reaching England on the 30th, Sej^teniber. Hy an admiralile course of reasoning he gave his conclusicn that " Davis Strait does lead to the Pacific." Encouraged by his report, the promoters sent him out again, this time with four vessels — the "vSunshine," and the "Moon- shine" (as 1)efore, ) the " Mermaid " ( 100) tons and the " North Star," a pinnace of 10 tons. They arrived in Gilbert Sound at the end of June and began searching for other openings besides those found in the previous expedition. vSoon they encoinitered huge packs of ice. The crew of the new ship tho ' ' Mermaid ' ' had not seen the Arctic regions before. They (piailed in front of the huge icebergs and at length mutinied. They were partially subdued by his imposing presence and entreated him "not through over-boldness to leave their widows and little children to give him l)itter curses." He sent the "Mermaid" home. He himself continued his exi)loration and found two mo^e ojK'uings, Davis Inlet and vSound and vSouctoke Inlet. On the 2 rst August, they were in Gilbert vSound where, according to the narrative, the natives wlio.se confidence he sought to win through the sweet mediuni of music " did on divers times woo us on shore to play with them at the football and .some of our company went on shore to play with them and our men cast them down as soon as they did come to .strike the ball." Thus early was football introduc- ed in the hyperborean regions and body-checking indulged in. Davis soon after that set sail for I'vUgland, as he pa.ssed naming Cape Farewell on the extreme southern point of Greenland and arrived home in the beginning of October. On the igtli May, 1587 Davis left Ivngland on his third voyage having with him his favoiu'ite vessel the "vSunshine" and the " Elizabeth," and a clinche named the " Ellen of London " and on the 30th June, had reached latitude 72 12, nearly four degrees further north than any one had been before in that .sea. He .saw before te him to the north " no ice, but a great .sea, free, large, very .salt and very blue " and " it seemed most manifest that the pa.ssage was free without im])ediment towards the north." Northern gales and the wish to proceed towards the west pre\'ent- ed him sailing furiher in this northern direction. He tried to sail westward and succeeded in going 44 miles deflecting but 40 TRANSACTIONS l899-'oO slightly to the south. The winds, however, drove the ice u])on him and he had to retreat towards the (ireenland coast and finally he gave up the attempt in that latitude and reached his old anchorage beneath Mount Raleigh. He then explored the Cum1)erland vStrait hojHng to find a pas.sage but the ice was too strong a barrier. He returned to the mouth and sailed south- ward. He passed Frobisher Hay and Hudson vStrait noting as he crossed the latter "that the sea fell down into the gulf with a mighty overfall and roaring and with divers circular motions like whirl])ools, in .some .sort as forcible streams pass through the arches of a bridge." On this voyage he named the mo.-t northerly point he reach- ed in Greenland " Sanderson his hope of a North West Passage," ( now in our maps cut down to ' 'Sanderson's Hope, ' ' ) after William Sanderson the London merchant whose public spirit had induced him to supply the means for the expeditions with which Davis's name is connected. He al.so named the Cuml)eilaiid Islands, Lumley's Inlet and Cape Chidley, the latter after a Worthy of the times deeply interested in Arctic exploration. He reached England in the middle of »Septem])er and his further history con- cerneth us not in this coiuiection. Canon Taylor says, " Davis needs no tomb-stone, as he has written his name conspicuou.sly upon the map of the world. ' ' In the 17th century, after Queen Rlizabeth's death, the re- cords show 20 Kngli.sh voyages of di.scovery, S Danish, 6 Dutch, 5 Russian, and one Portuguese, in all 40, ju.st one half of them English : Spani.sh and French dropping out altogether. Of the.se 40, the ones of interest to us in connection with our District of P'ranklin are tho.se of Hud.son, Button, Bylot, Baffin, and Fox. Henry Hud.son claims the next place in chronological order, as one of the navigators who.se " western sailings " are our " title deeds " to the northern fringe of Canada. But though he named Salisbury Island, one of the southern islands of F'ranklin Di.strict and therefore comes within the charmed circle of those whose fame is connected with the District which is to-night our special 1899- OO TRANSACTIONS 4 1 Study, yet his ex]>loits are chiefly associated with Hudson Ba>'* and the southern lands of Hudson straits. I have prepared a full account of his deeds in our waters and elsewhere but must reserve it for some other occasion. On account of the deep damnation of Hudson's taking off much interest was aroused in Kn^land and man>- attempts were made to ascertain his fate. In i6i2 vSir Thomas Button sailed with two vessels. His first place-name was " Carey's »Swan's Nest." His next was " Hopes Checked " and then on to Port Nelson at which place he wintered and then went North to latitude 65 the hij^hest i^oint he reached and somewhere near Cape Comfort. He, like Hudson, sailed within the boundaries of Franklin l)ut does not seem to have been otherwise as.sociated with its " title deeds." A little less than a year after Button's return to Kngland, the Muscovy Company — Sebastian Cabot's Company — sent out (161 5) Ro])ert Bylot and William Baffin who then and thus em- barked on the first of the two voyages commonly associated with their names. They sailed from the Scilly Islands, April 1615, in the "Discovery" a vessel of al)out 55 tons in which B>lot had already made three voyages to the North West. F'ollowinjr a course already familiar to him they pas,sed throujj^h Hud.son Straits and went up what is known as Fox Channel. Here and at the western end of the Hudson Straits they spent about three weeks in explorinj^ and then went back to ICngland, Their next voyage was one of greater interest and im])ortance and ranks among the mo.st famous of arctic voyages. They sail- ed from Gravesend on 26th March, 16 16, with a ship's company numbering 17 persons and coasting along the western shore of Greenland and through Davis vStrait they visited and explored both sides of the Cireat vSea that lias ever since borne the name of Baffin Bay. On this occasion they discovered and named the im- portant channel known as Lancaster Sound and also discovered and named Jones Sound, besides numerous smaller bodies of w^ater and many islands since become familiar to Arctic voyagersf. **'IIiKlson Ray is both tlu" tomb and Ih'vnonumont of thi- tlatinj';' navij>ator who discoverod it." Isaac Taylor; " Xatiu-s ami Ihoir histories." fC C. Smith in Justin Winsor's Narrative and Critical History Vol. Ill, pages 93-94. 42 TRANSACTIONS i899-'oo They discovered and named Savape Island, Cape Comfort (he- cause of the hoi)es liylot was then led to entertain of the existence of a North West I'assaj^e), Mill Island, (from the way the ice floes were ground up there by the rushinji waters), Women's Island (because HafTin there found two or three native women). Morn vSound (because Hylot traded there with the Indians for sea otter and unicorn's horns), Wolstenholm vSound ( after the second Sir John W. who aided Hylot and to whom Hylot wrote a lon^ account of his explorations); and Hakluyt Island, the latter after Rev. Richard H. who collected and published in 15K2 " Divers voyages touching the discovery of America and the principal navigations, voyages, trafficques and discoveries of the linglish nation made by sea and land," and is the first and greatest English compiler of sea voyages. Lancaster Sound and Channel were named in honour of vSir James Lancaster, who aided to c(iuip the Hafllin exi)edition and was a Director of the Kast Indian Company and the first iCnglish- man to sail round Cape of Good Hope to India ( 159 1-4). Jones Sound was so named for Alderman Sir Francis Jones, a London merchant, who also aided to equip Haflin's expeditions. Hafifin also named the most northerly opening of Haffin Hay, Smith Sound, after a very important man in his da>-, vSir Thos. Smith, who was the life and .soul of the East Indian Company during the fir.st year of its existence. WHien James Lancaster came back to England after an absence of three years and rejiort- ed the greatness of the field in India for English mercantile enterprise a few merchants sent off a ship for the purjiose. The success of the venture occasioned the formation of a company and Sir Thos. Smith was its first Governor continuing to hold that office for many years. The marvellous career of the East India Company is .sketched by Macaulay's graphic pen in his e.ssay on Warren Hastings. After its doings had been the history of the English in India for nearly 260 years its political power ceased and the Queen was proclaimed Queen of India in nSs.S, sub- .sequently ])eing proclaimed, on Jan. ist, 1S77 at Delhi before the princes and high dignitaries of India, Empress of India — all these great events and this magnificent addition of India to the pages of Hritish history springing from the action of a few merchants like Sir Thomas Smith. i899-'oo TR/ NSACTIONS 43 To Haffin is due the fnct that there are on the map of our District of Franklin, the place-names of Whale Sound, because of the number of whales they saw sporting there — those orators (spoutcrs) of the deeji being very abundatit in that locality ; vSir Dudley Dij^ges Cape, and Carey Island, after jiromoters of the voyage. Purchas says Baffin " died in the Indies slain in a fight, shot as he was trying his mathematical projects and conclusions," in order to find the range of the castle for his cannon. Hut though nothing is known of his later life "after years have verified all that this admirable old navigator ever asserted and his name will cling to the waters of the mighty bay he discovered as long as honest worth shall be recognized in the world.* By Baffin the flag of England had been hoisted and |x)ssession taken of the lands and islands from Smith vSound south along the western .shore of Baffin's Bay. liaffin is thus one of the hardy navigators whose "western sailings are our title deeds." Fifteen years elapsed before any other attempt was made by the English to penetrate the maze of i.slands on the west .shore of Baffin Bay. Luke Fox in 1631 made a considerable exploration of Hud- son Bay and named various islands, promontories and bays. Among the islands are Brooke-Cobham in honor of his patron. Sir John Brooke-Cobham, Brigg.st his mathematics, etc. Among headlands are Cape Marie, Cape Dorchester, King Charles his promontory, etc. Sir Thomas Roe's Welcome is also his place- name. Sir Thomas Roe was an eminent political agent who flourish- ed 1 568- 1 644. One of his mi.s.sions was to the court of the great Mogul, 16 1 5- 18. His Journal is one of the leading authorities for the reign of Jahangir (the Great Mogul). Ooldwin Smith says of him "the sage vSir Thomas Roe conjured the East India Company to content itself with factories and trade." Sir Josiah Child, on the other hand, in the reign of William III desired that *Markhani's voya8:es of William Baffin. fHenry Brig-jfs was a niatliematioiaii who promoted Fox's Expedition and wrote a treatise on the Xorth West Passajfe. Evidently Fox did not want him to be confounded with any other of the Brigj^s tamily. 44 TRANSACTIONS i899-'oo Ill's company, should be a m.ilitary power, and such it became, destiny compellin^^ it to concpier and to annex. Taylor says the name was originally j>jivei. to an island and afterv.'ards transferred to the channel in which the island lies, by either Button or Fox. It was j2^iven becau.se the giver believed that it would be welcome news to vSir Thomas to learn that a channel had been found leading to the Ea.st. It is thus that through its place names our Northern Archipelago is a.s,sociated with Hritish India. In 1670, as we know, the Hudson Bay Company was in- cc^ orated and soon established itself on the shores of Hudson Bay, there to begin that marvellous career which has been .so well described by Beckles Willson.* They did not however, during the 17th century attempt explorations in the northerly regions. They had too much to do alternateh- protecting and fighting that curious ]iroduct of the times, the freebooter Radisson ; defending themselves from that marvellous man, the French Canadian .son of Charles Lemoyne, the vSieur d' Iberville ; and establishing themselves in the good graces of the Indians of the Hinterland. During the 17th century the Knglish despatched 16 explor- ing ex]ieditions to the fro7-en ocean, the Russians iS, the Dutch I, the Unistoniams then first entering the lists. The Hud.son Bay Conijiany des]xitclied six expeditions at diiTerent times in fulfil- ment of an undertaking in their charter. One of them was com- manded by Henry Kel.sey, who is undcnibtedly one of the heroes for whom we are indebted to the Hudson Bry Company. Forty years before Verendrye's journeys of di.scovery, Kelse>', then a young man, had penetrated ( 1691 ) the interior of Rupert's Laud, had cros.sed the Assiniboine Country, had seen, for the first time among I'^nglish and French explorers, the buffaloes of the plain, had been attacked by the grisly bears of the far west, and. in be- half of the Hudson Bay Company, had taken possession of the lands he traversed and secured for his masters the trade of the Indians hitherto considered hostile.* But though he was pro- .sperous by land, in the two voyages he made by sea he does not appear to have made any di.scoveries of importance to our narrative. ■ /■ 'Bt'ckli's Willson y. " Tlie Groat Company,' P^g^^ iHo. l899-'00 TRANSACTIONS 45 The first water expedition of the Hiidson Bay Company in searcli of a North West Passage was unfortnnate. Opposite the names of the "Albany" frigaie and the "Diseoverie," the Hudson Bay Company had to write the ominous words, "never returned." For nearly half a century the fate of the men of that expedition remained unknown. Then (1767) some whalers coimected with the Black Whale Fishery, the company was at that time - irrying on, made Marble Island their rendezvous, and visiting ' s shores found English guns, anchors, and other articles lying about. When the tide ebbed the hulls of two craft were seen lying in two fathoms of water. Inquiries were made and in the coiirse of a few years the details of the sad fate were pieced together. The two vessels were damaged and made the harbor ; the crews, landing, set about building the house whose ruins had attracted the whalers. After finishing the house they seem to have .set to work repairing the ships. The first winter passed and the succeeding sunnner faded into winter. By this time thirty of the fift}- persons compo.sing the company were dead. When sj^ring advanced the Eskimos cros.sed over to the mainland. When they returned they found only five alive. These they sui)plied with food, seal's flesh and whale's blubber, which they in their distress devoured raw, and, in consequence, three of the five died. The two survivors, though weak, man- aged to bury their dead and for .some weeks kept themselves alive. Hoping agains. hope, they frequently dragged them- selves to the sunnnit of a nearby rock to look for a relief j)arty. At last ♦^^hey were seen 1)y the wandering natives to crouch close to one another and to weep like children. Then one died nnd the last man of the fifty tried to dig a grave, but fell over the dead body of his fellow, himself a corp.se. "The Eskimo, who told the storx' as he had heard it, took the whalers to the spot and showed them the skulls and larger l)ones of the luckless pair, then lying a])ove ground, not a great distance from the dwelling."* The uncertainty of the fate of the men of the "Albany" and the "Diseoverie" was not the reason why so little energy on the part of the linglish appears in the i8th century. During the *"Joiinu-y trom I'riiKi- of Wales Fort in Hudson Bay lo llu" Xorllu-m Ocean," bv Samuel Hearne. 46 TRANSACTIONS i899-'oo first half of it Englishmen were busy fighting battles on the con- tinent, which called for every man England could s])are. Blen- heim and Ramillies and Malplaquet ear-mark the period for us. Sixty battles in fifty years leave little room for other work. In the early years of the century the exigencies of England were so great that the fleet was raised to 30,000 men and the army to 10,000, then deemed extraordinary figures indicative of great strain upon the nation's resources. John Churchill, Earl of Marlborough, who, as Voltaire notes, never Ijesieged a fortress that he did not take or fought a battle which he did not win, was fighting his way to the Danube to win the ])attle of Blenheim. It was the day of the first of the great Commoners, Walpole and the Pitts. The century saw the Seven Years' War, which, open- ing on land with a brush between a small body of troops under Washington and a party of French under Jumonville at Fort du Quesne, and on sea with the naval engagement between Admiral Boscawen and the French ships "Lys" and "Alcide" in the fogs of the Newfoundland coast, soon kindled the world into a flame. These acts were the "l^eginning of the end" of that contest for connnercial control of the world which that first of Imperial Unionists, Sir William Petty, (ancestor of our Lord Lan.sdowne) recognized as already world-wide in his time, ( 1676) and for the prosecution of which Sir William, with a ])re.science that has kept his memory green, proved statistically that England had all the natural advantages necessary to ultimate success ; Portugal and Spain having been pushed aside, the Netherlands reeling from the l>lows received and preparing to give waj- to P'rance as the coming challenger of England's growing greatness. They precipitated the tremendous struggle, which, fought out to the bitter end on the plains of India, on the waters of the Mediter- ranean and the Spanish Main, on the Gold Coast of Africa, on the ramparts of Louisburg, on the Heights of Quebec, and along the valley of the Ohio, determined for ages the destinies of the world. With that struggle began the re-creation of Germany, its intellectual supremacy over the continent of Europe, its political union under the leadership of Prussia and its kings ; the independence of the United States, and "the foundation of the unicpie Empire, which, unlike Ru.ssia and the United States equally vast, but not continuous, with the ocean flowing through 1899-00 TRANSACTIONS 47 it in every direction, lies like a world- Venice with the sea for streets — Greater Britain. "* Under these conditions Knj^land had little time and inclin- ation to push those "western sailings of hardy navigators which are our title deeds" to our Northern Island Fringe. While British troops were occupying Boston in 1769, Samuel Hearne of the Hudson Bay Company was making his first at- tempt to find copper on the Coi)permine River, an attem])t, in which at the end of three years, during which he travelled i ,000 miles on foot or in canoes, he was to achieve success and to be the first white man to look upon the Arctic waters from the in- terior. As he descril^es the occasion, the weather was decidedly unfit for extended observation; a thick fog and a drizzling rain greeted him as he stood on a small eminence near the mouth of the river, cutting his name on a board in sign of the extension of the Hudson Bay Company's possessions to that point, else he might possil^ly have looked across the waters and seen the great island now called Prince Albert Land and included in the District of Franklin. Though the F^nglish were not much in evidence in Polar seas during the iSth century for the reason that it was a fighting century with 194 battles as its record, Davis vStrait did not lack visitors. The Dutch prosecuted the whale fisheries so vigorously that between 17 19 and 1775 they had made nearly 6,400 voyages, an average of over 100 vessels a year. The second decade of the century now nearly nui out had not wholly ],assed when the English l)egan to bestir themselves. The Peace of 1.S14 had freed Fngland from her American entanglement. With the battle of Waterloo had ended Na- poleon's career as a conqueror. Barrow is a frequent place-name in our Arctic ]K)s.sessions and along our northern littoral, l^arrow »Strait ; Cape Barrow in Victoria Land ; in Grinnell Land ; in Coronation Gulf and near 'Professor Seeley: "Expansion of the Empire." 48 TRANSACTIONS i899-'oo the Great Fish River ; Mount Barrow between the Coppermine and the McKen/ie River ; Harrow Bay in Parry Islands ; Barrow Ishuid, Barrow River and Point Barrow are instances. Parry, Ricliardson, Ross. Beechy, liack, Belclier, and Kane were the givers. There is a Barrow Ba>' in Corea and a Barrow Bay off the north west coa.st of AiistraHa. Sir John Barrow, in who.se honor the.se many phice-names were bestowed, was an ardent advocate of Arctic explorations. He wrote a great deal in favor of further investigation, believing that if a passage were found it would be of inunense service to Great Britain in her commerce with India. He succeeded in arous- ing public interest in the resumption of efforts to .solve the problem. Parry's voyages and Franklin's followed, Barrow cheering them on ; his position as Secretary of the Admiralty Board — a position he occupied for forty years under eleven first Lords of the Admiralty, the esteemed confidence of all of whom he held as well as that of King William IV — enabling him to lend a help- ing hand. Before he became Secretary, he was employed to .settle the Government of the Cape of Good Hope, and published two volumes on that important acquisition, who.se name has been so prominently before the Canadian pul)lic of late. The peru.sal of that work induced Lord Melville to appoint him vSecretary of the Admiralty, and thus to give him a position where he could exerci.se strong influence in favor of Arctic exploration. When our boys landed in Cape Town a little while ago, they landed in a colony that had been established by the man whose memorial tablets are .scattered all over the Canadian District of PVanklin. Sir Jt)hn Barrow — he received his baronetcy for his work in connection with Arctic exploration, like so many others kniglited for .service in the Arctic regions of Canada — Sir John Barrow u.sed his great influence in a practical maimer ; for by rea.son of his efforts the Parliament of Great Britain in 1818 pa.s.scd an act for the jiromotion of polar di.scovery, liy the terms of which a re- ward of /"2o,ooo sterling was offered for making a North West Passage and of /"5,ooo for reaching latitude 8y° north, while the Commi.ssioners of Longitude were empowered to award propor- tionate sums to those who might achieve certain portions of such discoveries. Barrow lost no time in securing four vessels, two iSgg-'oo TRANSACTIONS 49 ' to go by way of vSpitzbergen, Cabot's favorite way, and two via Baffin Bay. The first were tnider the command of Captain Buchan and Lieutenant PVanklin, being the first time the latter officer made a trip to the Arctics. The second two were under the command of Captain John Ross and L,ieut. E. W. Parry. Both expeditions sailed in April, 1818. It was in the.se circum- .stances that John Ross came to be connected with our Arctic Island Di.strict. Ross coasted along the west shores of Greenland, bestowing place-names all along the coast. When he arrived at the south- ern end of Smith Channel he named the two opposing cape.s — one on Greenland and one on our territory — Cape Isabella and Cape Alexandria, after his two ves.sels. He sailed south, nam- ing the bays and islands and inlets he explored, and retiirned to England with the intelligence that the north water of Baffin Bay was a good spot for the whale fisheries, and it was accordingly utilized for many a year, Ijringing much profit to the nation. In 1829, Ross, by the a.s.sistance of Sir Felix Booth, made a second voyage in which he entered Prince Regent Sound and went .south along the eastern .side of a land he named Boothia Felix. On August i6th he wrote in his journal, "I went on shore with all the officers, took formal possession of the new dis- covered land and at one o'clock the colours were di.splayed and the King's health drunk, together with that of the founder of our expedition after whom the land was named, Mr. vSheriflf Booth, an old and intimate friend." Brown Island was named "after the amiable si.ster of Mr. Booth," and the harbour was named Port Elizabeth "in compliment to a si.ster of the patron of our expedition." He wintered in Boothia. He subsequently named and partially explored King William's Land to the west of the Peninsula of Boothia and jias.sed two more winters in that region. As he could not get his vessel out he went to Fury Beach, where he pas.sed his fourth winter, 1832-33. liventually he and his men were picked up by a whaler in Barrow Strait and taken to England. I have counted more than 200 names conferred on places ui Franklin territory by John Ross.* *Mr. Olto Klotz reminds me thai Sir James Clark Ross, who was with his uncle, Sir John, on this expedition discovered (loth June, 1831) the position of the North Majj^netic Pole on Melville Peninsula. 50 TRANSACTIONS i899-'oo John Ross's second in command, was, as we have said, W. E. Parry. As Parry did not concur in the view held by Ross about the passaj^es, reported by Baffin, l^ein^ mere inlets, but l)elieved that they were straits by which a North West Passage could be found, he was appointed to command another expedi- tion, which sailed in the leafy month of May, i.Sig, and was formed of the "Hecla" and the "Griper" with a hundred men on board. With these vessels he entered Baffin Bay and passed through Lancaster Sound, the continuation of which he named Barrow Strait. He also saw and named Wellington Channel, after . the Iron Duke, then Master-General of the Ordnance. Pressing onward he saw and named several Islands after his much loved western counties, for he was a Somerset man. On the 4th vSeptember the ships crossed the Meridian of 110° west of Greenwich in latitude 74°44', by which fact the crews became entitled to the reward of ^5,000 offered to those first reaching that meridian. To do honor to the joyful event, a bluff head- land, off which the announcement was made, received from the men the name of "Bounty Cape." He came at length, after a vo3'age of 300 miles from Wel- lington Channel, to land which he named Melville, in honour of lyord Melville, First Lord of the Admiralty, who, to judge of him by the frequency with which his title appears as a place- name (there are ten or a dozen places bearing his name) must have been a man whose heart was in the right place. Here further progress was stopped by that impenetrable polar pack which seems to surround the Archipelago, and was compelled to winter in a harbor on the south coast of Melville Island, called by him Winter Island. Parry was the first of the "hardy English navigators" whose "westerly sailings" we are following, to winter in our north country. There they wintered in a dark silence, broken only by the loud resounding blows which the hammer of intense cold now and then strikes upon the beams and sides of their ships — otherwise a silence so profound that one might easily fancy he could hear the clash of constant battle kept up in his veins and arteries — tlio.se great military roads leading from and to the citadel of the heart — as the microbes, friendly and unfriendly to human life, make of his body a battle-field, in which the prize is his continuance in health or his removal to the silence of the tomlx When the long Arctic night iSgg-'oo TRANSACTIONS 51 * * ' of three months', over 2,000 hours, duration fell upon the two ships, Parry, to give amusement and at the same time edification, established a weekly ^japer, a theatre and a school, an example followed by later winterers in those regions. The paper was edited by Capt. vSabine, the eminent observer, and was called the "North Georgia Gazette and Winter Chronicle." It may have been a spicy journal, but I doubt if it had a "Frills" or an 1 "Inez," to chronicle the doings and dre.sses of society's dames and damsels. The editor certainl)^ had no news from far off lands. The Duke of Richmond, Governor-General of Canada, had a short time before died of hydrophobia in a barn near Ottawa and his remains had been buried with great pomp and ceremony in Quebec. England was seething and bubbling over with riots and outrages in its manufacturing districts ; starv- ing agricultural laborers were burning hay ricks and her people were migrating to Canada and other countries by thousands. But of these Editor Sabine knew iiothing and therefore could tell his readers nothing. He could tell them of the pale bright light of the moon, of occasional paraselenas, of the brilliant splendour of the Auroras, the constant presence of stars and the meteoric flash of aerolites and other celestial appearances, rather than of mundane matters. Possibly many a good story of thrilling in- terest was gathered from reminiscent Jack Tars, ind many a witty paragraph evolved from the surroundings. The Prince of Darkness may have received special attention, for the region must have .seemed his special realm, with darkness on the face of the land and the icy lanes. The Theatre Royal opened with the play of "Miss in Her Teens" on the 5th of November, the same day the sun sank be- neath the horizon not to rise again for nearly three tedious months. The fur-coated, yet very cold, audience sat it out and enjoyed it, for it is written "that when the actors advanced and hurrahed for old England, the whole audience with one accord rose and gave three of the heartiest cheers I have ever heard. In May following Parry undertook a journey across Melville Lsland and records that "the soil was in mo.st cases barren, w-ith occasional pieces of coal embedded in sandstone, but on the western coast vegetation was more abundant and game more plentiful." fl! 52 TRANSACTIONS i899-'oo In Aiij;ust tlie vessels went westward. A high and 1)old coast was sij^hted and named Banks land, and then, tl^e ice pack preventing fnrther progress in that direction, the vessels' bows were turned eastward, and the ships' company examined, as they pushed their way along, the soutliern coast of Melville Sound and Barrow Strait. Parry had sailed upwards of 30 degrees of west longtitude beyond any former navigator, and had seen the most westerly lands of the now called Di.strict of Franklin. In due time he arrived in England. Sir John Barrow, commenting on this voyage says, 'We are proud, and justly proud of the name of Cook, but we venture to assert, without fear of contradiction and without meaning to derogate one tittle from the merit of that renowned navigator, that in no part of his career of discover}- liad he occa.sion to call into action all those personal exertions and mental energies which were perpetually demanded in, and essential to the safety of, the late expedition." Parry made a .second voyage as commander in 1821, going to Repulse Bay and exploring some 200 leagues, nearly one-half of which belonged to the continent. He wintered near Winter I.sland in Repulse Bay and e.^tabli.shed a theatre, where, on the 17th of November, "A .shivering .set of actors performed to a great-coated, shivering audience, the appropriate play of the "Poor Gentleman." He went up the east coast of Melville Peninsula guided by the tracings on paper of a remarka1)ly intelligent young liskimo woman, whose untrained hand took as naturally to drawing as the hands of others of her tribe did to pilfering. He named the strait which separates the peninsula from the i.sland north of it the "Fury and Hecla" .strait, after his vessels. He did not succeed in finding a North West Pas- sage and returned to England. Nothing daunted, the Britisli authorities sent out three expeditions — one by way of Behring's Strait, the second under Parry by Baffin Bay, and the third under Franklin by land, to the continental shores of Northern America. Parry did lifde, his vessel, the "P'ury" was wrecked and he returned to England ; his future acts, not being associated directly with Canada's archipelago of the north, concern us not. I have quoted Sir John Barrow's opinion of Sir. Ed. Parry. You will see on the map between Copperuiiue River and l899-'00 TRANSACTIONS 53 McKenzie River, Cape Parry. In bestowing the name upon that bold headland, Dr. Richardson, in 1826 wrote in his journal, "Cape Parry I have named after the distinguished navigator, whose skill and perseverance have created an era in the progress of northern discovery," While Parry was taking possession of the islands of what is now known as Parry Archipelago, another ardent Arctic ex- plorer was at work seeking to ascertain the bounds of the northern shore of this continent. This was the man in whose honour, and in that of his noble-hearted wife, twenty place- name tablets have been set up in the Queen's Arctic territory. Sir John Franklin first became connected with Arc.ic ex- ploration in 1818. He was born in Lincolnshire, April i6th, 1786, and was intended by his father for the church. But one day he and his companion .seized the opportunity of a holiday to make a jaunt of a dozen miles to see what the ocean looked like. That day's enjoyment of the .salt water arou.sed in him the de- termination to become a ".salt." His father, thinking that a good .solid experience of the discomforts of life in an ocean ship would make the boy long for the quiet of a parsonage, .sent him to Lisbon on l)oard of a merchantman. But the intended cure only confirmed the di.sease, and in 1800 when fourteen years old, the youngster was on the quarter-deck of the Polyphenuis, a 74 gun ship, which a few months later led the line in Nelson's great naval battle of Copenhagen. During the next few years he was knocking around the world as is the custom of sailor lads. He was in Au.stralia, where his vessel was wrecked, in India, in Portugal, in Brazil and in the Gulf of Mexico performing those duties which a young Knglisli naval officer in stirring times has to put his hand to. When peace came after the battle of Waterloo, the young lieutenant .sought and obtained an appointment on board a ves.sel in which it was proposed to attempt to cross the pole by the often tried way of vSpitzbergen. The qualities which the young officer displayed reconnnended him to the London men who had polar enterpri.se at heart, and in 18 19 he was placed in command of an expedition whose object was to find the Arctic Sea by the overland route through our North West Territories, then known as Rupert's Land. 54 TRANSACTIONS i899-'oo There was not much known of our Arctic Coast at that time. Samuel Hearne, as we have already seen, had discovered the Coppermine River, and thus had become known as the first white man to visit our Arctic shores. Though it was not part of his work to investigate the ocean, there is no doubt that he realized that he was looking on water that was salt. He was a salt water mariner as well as land traveller. When Franklin was a "wee" baby of three sununers, Alex- ander McKenzie was forcing his way down the valley of the "Big River" as it was called for many years till Franklin him- self gave it the name it now bears — McKenzie Ri'"'r — in 1H25, as he stood on the eminence from which McKenzie, 36 years before, looked upon the great ocean of the North, the first white man to do so. Excepting the mouths of the McKenzie and the Coppermine rivers, nothing was known of our Arctic Coast line when Franklin and his companions set foot on our shores at York Factory in Hudson Bay and began organizing their expedition. His first winter was spent on the banks of the Saskatchewan. During the succeeding sununer he was treading clo.sely in the steps of Hearne down the Coppermine River, from the mouth of which he explored the shores of Coronation Gulf to the east, as far as Point Turn Again, a distance of over 550 miles. In his second overland expedition, he and Dr. Richardson divided their forces at Point Separation, he himself going down one of the eastern mouths of the McKenzie river delta and ex- ploring within 160 miles of Point Barrow, the cape which Beechy reached in 1826 coming through Behring vStrait. Richardson ex- plored the coasts between McKenzie River and Coppermine River. As he stood upon a cape on the south shore of Dolphin and Union Strait (named after his two boats) Richardson saw to the north a great land and named it Wollaston Land "after the mo.st distinguished philosopher, Dr. Hyde Wollaston."* •Most of Wollaston's papers deal more or less directly with chemistry, but they diverjje beyond liiat science on all sides into optics, physiolog^y, botany, acoustics, astronomy, and even touch on tirt. He discovered the metals palladium and rhodium. The Royal Society awarded him a Royal Medal for his process of manufacturings platinum — a work, which, in its im- mediate effects, it is almost impossible to over-estimate since it made platinum crucibles generally available, thus supplying analytical chemistry with the most powerful instrument of advance. — Ency. Brit. i899-'oo TRANSACTIONS 55 It was on his return from this expedition that Franklin visited Ottawa, and on Col. By's invitation, laid well and truly the Foundation Stone of the first lock of the Rideau Canal be- tween Parliament Hill and Nepean Point. In 1837-8-g, Dease and Simpson completed the examination of the coast, connectinj^ Franklin's furthest west with Beechy's Point Barrow, and Franklin's and Richardson's furthest east with the Isthmus of the Peninsula of Boothia, establishing for the first time, beyond (luestion, that there is a water passage all the way from Behring Strait to Boothia. Dr. Rae made a land journey in 1846 and 1847 and connected Dease and Simpson's work with the work of Parry.* A year or two before Rae, with his companions, in the accomplishment of this work, wintered in Repulse Bay without fuel, subsisting for twelve months l)y hook, gun and spear, tramping on foot for 700 miles, and making the first long sledge journey of nearly 1,300 miles made in that part of our district of FVanklin , Franklin himself had left Ivngland (1845) with the " Krebus" and the "Terror" on that memorable "westerly sail- ing' ' from which he never returned — neither he nor his seven score of companions, nor their vessels. When he had been gone for three years and no tidings of him had been wafted b}- favouring breezes to waiting, expectant Kngland, great anxiety began to be felt there. In 1S48, Sir James Ross was sent to search for the missing expedition. He went to Lancaster Sound and wintered near north Devon, making in the spring of i S49 a long sledge journey with Lieut. McClin- tock for his companion. Being unsuccessful he returned to lingland with the sad news. All England was aroused. More than 130 British seamen were lost and their fate nuist be as- *In 1853-4 Rais by ;i sledge joiiriu>y of over 1,000 miles, eonneeted the work of Dease and Simpson with that of Ross. 56 TRANSACTIONS i899-'oo certained, if possible. ICn^laiul has never spared men or money when her subjects are imprisoned and need to be set free whether they are held in bondaj^e among the mountains of Abyssinia or in the "thrilling regions of thick ribbed ice." In all, I have counted 22 expeditions which were sent to Polar regions to assure their countrymen that all was being done that skill and energy could do to lift the veil and reveal the fate of the captain and men of the "Ivrebus" and the "Terror." By these, during the years 1850-54, nearly the whole of the vast Archipelago of the district of Franklin was thoroughly searched. The kindred nation to the south of us generously lent a helping hand, Moses Griiniell, of New York, ecpiipping two ex- peditions, one in 1850 and the other in 1853, to aid in the search. In commemoration of his efforts we have added to the large stock of place-names Orinnell Land and Grinnell Island to mark our gratitude and to remind future generations of the large- hearted man who acted on the adage "blood is thicker than water" that has more than once been invoked between the two nations in times of need. France, the other kindred nation of Canada's people, was represented in the search by Lieut. Bellot of the French navy, who went as a volunteer with Capt. Kennedy. The gallant Frenchman was drowned, and his deeds are commemorated l)y the place name, Bellot »Strait, which, he discovered, and thus established the most northerly coast of the continent ; and by a marble taljlet affixed to a cenotaph erected in Wellington Channel near the place where he lost his life. Collinson and McClure went by way of Behring's Strait, Penny and Austin entered Barrow Strait from the east. vSir John Ross, then a veteran of 73 years, • wintered near Penny, off the south coast of Cornwallis Island. Years before he had promised vSir John Franklin that if the occasion arose he would go in search oF him, and now the time for the fulfilment of the promise having fully come, the brave old man, scorning ease when his comrade's fate was the problem to be solved, was at his post amidst the rocks and ice of Franklin District. Kemiedy with Bellot was sent out by Lady Franklin herself. i899-'oo TRANSACTIONS 57 » t Sir John Richardsoir'- atul Dr. Rae, at the instance of the Hudson Hay Co., searched in 1H4.S the continental shores over Richardson's old route between the McKen/.ie and Copjierniine Rivers, and later on Dr. Rae examined the shores of Victoria Uud. The earnestness with which the search was pro.secutcd is seen in the fact that on Christmas Day, 1851, ei^ht vessels were in different parts of the District of Franklin fro/en up. Some 400 brave men under the a])lest arctic explorers were passing the time of darkness as best they could, patiently waiting for the sun's return so that they could scour the islands by means of .sledge parties. The plan of campaign was carefully prepared and clo.sely studied during the 120 days of the sun's absence. When the time came, the sledge expeditions were despatched and the work of searching systematically pursued during the next three or four years. Some marvellous journeys were made by these expeditions that were throwing search-lights over number- less bays and inlets, ever hoping to discover some cairn erected, some (dc/u' made by Franklin, some recognizable fragments of the "F>ebus" and the "Terror" cast ashore along the deeply ilidented coasts. McClintock was away from his ship for 105 days, during which he cov red 1,32s miles. During 94 days Mecham travelled 1,163 "n "^^ Sherard Osborn made 935 miles in 97 days. In a second expedition Mecham made a record journey of 1,336 miles during 70 days' al)sence. These efforts resulted in the addition of many islands to the Queen's possessions in the far north and were not altogether fruitless in regard to the main purpose. Traces of the missing ships had Ijeen discovered as early as August, i' and Onnnanney, from which it was ascertained that F>anklin, with 154 officers and men, had spent his first winter ( 1845-6) on Beechey Island at the south eastern end of Wellington Channel, remaining there at least as late as April 1846. *In a letlor lo his fi.incoe, Prof. Hiudoy wiitos (Nov. ytli, 1S51) : "To-day 1 had tho icreat ploasiire of nu'ofmj^ my old friiMid, Sir John Ricliardson, (lo whom 1 was m.iinly indcblod for my appointiiuMit in tiu- "Rattlesnako"). Since I loft Kn^^land ho has marriod a third wife and has taken a hand in joininjj^ in the search for Sir John Franklin, (which was the more dreadful ?) like an old hero as he is, hut not a feature of him is altered, and he is as ijray, as really kind and as seeminj^^ly abruj>t and ^rim as ever he was. Such a fine old Polar bear." Richardson was 62 years of age when lie set out on i.his overland expedition. 58 TRANSACTIONS i899-'oo After that, years had to pass before further inforniation was obtained, though Belcher had gone through Wellington Channel and examined the Victorian Archipelago, discov^ered North Corn- wall, North York and North Kent, and connected them by Belcher Channel with Jones Sound and Baffin Bay ; though Kellett and Vesey Hamilton had found their way to the North shores of Prince Patrick Island, threading with swift movement, but with ever watchful eyes, the mazes of the furthest North West of Franklin District ; though McClurc ha ^ penetrated Prince of Wales Strait, and from his wintering place of Princess Royal Island had despatched sledging parties north and south and east into Prince Albert and Victoria Land ; though Collinson had carried his vessel into Victoria Strait and had come to within a few miles of the spot where Franklin's vessel had been aban- doned 5 years before. In 1854 Dr. Rae, then conducting an expedition for the Hudson Bay Co. , learned from a band of Eskimos that about four years before some 40 white men had bet" seen dragging a boat over the ice near the north shore of King William Island. From these "Huskies" he o])tained various articles, which he carried to England in 1855 and obtained the reward of ^10,000 offered by the Admiralty to the first one ascertaining the fate of the F^'ranklin expedition. Eady Franklin in 1857 ^^"^ o^^t the "Fox," Capt. McClin- tock, for further search. He was beset in the middle pack of the Greenland coast, and was held fast bound for 242 daj-s and carried nearly i ,402 statute miles. The ice pack was broken u]i by a fierce storm on 24th April, 1S58, and the "Fox" steamed out from among the rolling masses of ice, escaping from thraldom in a most miraculous manner. After eight months of aimless, hel])less drifting hither and thither, McClintock found himself clear of his floating jirison and ready to make a begin- ning in the task Eady F'lanklin had set him. During the autumn of 1858 he arrived at Beechey Island, and there erected to the memory of Sir John F^ranklin and his companions, the marble tablet already mentioned as having been provided for the purpose by Lady Franklin. Then he turned his vessel south- ward into Prince Regent Inlet and wintered in Bellot vStrait. By the middle of February, 1859, he was able to start on his first i899-'oo Transactions 59 sledging expedition, the tliernionieter 48 degrees below zero. As a result lie obtained clews from the Eskimo, which led him to return to his ship and to despatch three expeditions, by which evidence, abundant and conclusive, was secured on King William Land, establishing beyond doubt the fate of the "Erebus" and the "Terror." Eieut Hobson, in connnand of one of these parties, found in a cairn on Point Victory, where John Ross had been on 30th May, 1830, on the north east point of King William Land, a record which read : "April 28th, i8a8, H. M. Ships "Terror" and "Erebus" were deserted on the 22nd. April (1848), five leagues N.N.W. of this, having been beset (by ice) since 12th vSept. 1846. The officers and crew consisting of 105 souls landed here in latitude 69° 37' 42", longitude 98' 41' west. Sir John Franklin died on the nth June, 1847, and the total loss has been to this date 9 officers and 15 men." The hand-writing was that of Capt. Fitzjames, to whose signature was appended that of Capt. Crozier, who added, "start to-morrow (29th April, 1848) for Back's Fish River." From all that can be gathered one of Franklin's vessels must have been crushed in the ice and the other stranded and carried off, bit by bit, by the Eskimo. The point Sir John hVanklin had reached brought him a comparatively short distance from the point he had reached in 1 82 1. He had all but traversed by water the distance between Baffin Bay and Franklin's Turn Again Reef. 160 miles west of McKenzie River. To Franklin it was ]-.lain sailing after he reached (had fate so willed it ) the southern extremity of King William Island. Dease and Simpson's, Dr. Richardson's and liis own explorations had proved that tlie water-way between the main land and Victoria and Wollaston lands was naxigable in the season. He could have traversed it as easily as Collinson did a few years later. He stood on the verge of tlie promised land. He saw it but the reward went to others. What became of the survi\ors ? There were 105 i)ersons who looked out upon the ice-packed strait on that 29tli April, and saw for the last time the ship which had sheltered them for many monllis. 60 TRANSACTIONS i899-'oo They had no doubt consulted with Frankhn, and had settled what was to be done in the event of having to abandon their vessels. We know that they were on King William Island and that their destination was the Great Fish River. For the rest there is little positive known. McClintock found proof that some of them had perished along the shores of King W lliam Island. Other evidences indicate that the main body of them had succeeded in reaching Montreal Island in the estuary of the Great Fish River. In 1879 Lieut. Schwatka of the United States Army under- took to find out definitely. He and three companions landed at Chesterfield Inlet and proceeded overland from the mouth of the (ireat Fish River and thence to Cape Herschell on King William Island, whence he examined the west coast of the island to its northernmost cape. Some graves were found and a medal' belong- ing to Lieut. Irving of the Terror, with bones which were be- lieved to be the remains of Irving. These latter were sent to Iulin])urgh and re-interred there in January, 18S1. One ])ody had been found in a lioat In' Lieut. Holison, and some graves were discovered at different times on King William Island. Indications of l)oat building were observed at Montreal Island, showing that some members of the ill-^ated exi)edition had arrived at that point. It is all mere conjecture from that stage. The only fact is that though more than fifty years have passed since the noble 100 .stood upon Point Victory with their faces turned southward, nothing definite has been revealed. No skeletons have been discovered. No cairns have been found. A few traditions have been gathered from the Ivskimo to the effect that white men were seen toiling along and d>ing in their tracks, apparently of starvation. Possibly some traveller may l)y ac- cident find the gnawed bones of the men who left Montreal Island on their weary march inland. It was fifty years before the fate of the men on Marble Island was made known to llie world, and the chances of discovery in that case were nuich ureater than in the case of the Franklin men. The result of the several expeditions of tlie Franklin Relief I^xpeditions was the exploration of a vast extent of before un- l899-'00 TRANSACTIONS 6l known country and the tracinj^ of about 25,000 miles of coast line. The various relief expeditions explored as follows : Sir John Ross in 1849 yyo miles Capt. Austin 6,087 " Belcher and Kellett 9,432 " McCiure 2 i\n ' ' Lolhnson j 030 ' ' McClintock, 1857 \soo " 20,689 Much of this had been partially explored b>- previous navi- j^ators, but about 7,000 miles of pre- iously unexplored coast were added by the Franklin Reliefs. In the above state- ment the miles of coast explored by American navigators and by Lady Franklin's parties (except McClintock 's) are not in- cluded, nor are the explorations of Dr. Rae. When McClintock withdrew his shi]) from the mazes of the District of Franklin, the exploration of the District had been nearly accomj)lished. After that England lost interest in Arctic exi)loration, and for fifteen years the British Government did nothing for the ad- vancement of geographical research in north Polar regions, leaving that kind of work to Knglish yachtsmen, to Austrians, Germans, Swedes, Norwegians, and Unistoniams, the latter con- fining themselves chiefly to our side of the })ole ; the others giving their attention to the Siberian side. On the map far to the nortli, you will see laiesmere Land, vSchley Land. Arthur Land, Grinnell Land. Garfidd Coast and Grant Land, separated from Greenland by Smith vSound, Kennedy Channel, Rol)eson Channel and Lincoln Sea. Ivlles- mere Land and Smith vSound were named by Baffin in 161 s. Then till 1853 no white man is known to have ex]ilored the region. In that sear, nearly 240 years after Baffin's xoyage. Dr. Kane, (U.S.), explored the Sound and went through Kane Basin into Kennedy Canal. He was followed by Dr. Hayes of the United States in i860, who reached 81" 35'. Capt. Hall ( 1 87 1 -2) received assistance from Mr. Robeson, Secretar\ of the U. S. Naval Department, and passed through and named 62 TRANSACTIONS iSqq-'oo Robeson Channel, the northern continuation of Kennedy, reach- ing 82° 16'. By these, and other llnistoniani explorers, the northern extensions of Baffin's KHesniere Land and vSniith Channel were explored and named, and thus it is that in the north-east corner of the District of Franklin, we have a curious combination of place names, connnemorative of British and American worthies, suggestive of that closer association of recent times which seems to prognosticate the union of the several branches of the English-speaking people, after a few more presidential elections have eliminated the anutsing tendency to "tail-twisting" our breezy neighbours periodically display, owing, apparently, to a deep seated provincialism not yet eradi- cated. I have mentioned that the District of Franklin has had its free schools, its free theatres and its free newspapers, and also its own currency (gun wads). It has also inspired great painters. "The North West Passage" exhibited at the Academy in the vSpring of 1874, was perhaps, the most popular of all vSir John Millais' paintings at the time, not only for its intrinsic merit, but as an expres.sion, more eloquent than words, of the wide felt desire that to England should fall the honour of laying bare the hidden my.stery of Canada's North. "It might be done and England ought to do it." This was the stirring legend which marked the sul^ject of the painting. Capt. Trelawney, who in his younger days had l)een an in- timate friend of Byron and Shelley, .sat for the "old sea-dog," whose weather-beaten features gave utterance to the sentiment nearest his heart. By his .side is outspread a map of the North- ern regions, and with her hand resting on his hand, his daughter rests at his feet, reading to him the records of previous attempts to reach the North Pole. This picture powerfully assisted men like Sherard Osborn and others, who had been connected with circumpolar explor- ation during the "fifties," in their eflforts to induce the Govern- ment to try again. After 15 years of inaction, in the autumn of 1874, the Prime minister, Benjamin Disraeli — that bright and morning star of the Imperialistic i)rinciple, whose steady light has guided the British people to Imperial unity — announced the i899-'oo TRANSACTIONS 63 intention of the Cxovernment to send an expedition in 1875. The sliips equipped for the purpose were the screw steamer the "Albert" and the "Discovery," under the connnand of Capt. Nares, whose experience had been gained in the "Resohite," Captain Kellett, in 1852-4. With him were Commander Mark- ham, Captain vStephenson (commander of the "Discovery") Lieuts. Aldrich, Parr and Beaumont, and Capt. Fielden. Capt. Nares encountered great difficulties, but he pushed his ships up Smith, Kennedy and Robeson Chantiels, and wintered in the "Alert" in 82" 27' north latitude, the highest point of wintering ever attempted to that date, the "Discovery" being .some miles to the south. In the .spring of 1876, the explorers made several extended sledge journeys under Conmiander Markham and Lieuts. Aldrich and Beaumont. Aldrich explored 200 miles or the north and west coast of Grant Land, going as far as Cape Alfred Knie.st (named after the Queen's .second .son). Markham and Parr boldly pushed out straight for the North Pole, and reached the highest point up to th^t time attained, viz., 83° 20' 26" N., or 38° north of Ottawa, say about the distance between Halifax and Gla.sgow. You will .see the names of many of these navigators on the chart of the most northerly regions of Canada— Nares Land, Markham Island, Aldrich Bay, Beaumont I.sland, etc. We can trace here and there in the older provinces of the Dominion the influence of these Arctic explorations upon the thought of the people. In Ontario we have Parry vSound and Island named by Commander Bayfield, R. N., who made a survey of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay ( 1822-25. ) and named the Sound after Parry, the fame of whose exploits as an Arctic Navigator in 1819-20 had naturally attracted Bayfield. McClure township in Ha.stings County was named in 1.S57 after Sir Robert LeMesurier-i^ McClure, R. N. , the Arctic ex- plorer. McClintock township in Muskoka perpetuates the fame of Sir Leopold McClintock, who.se name also appears in many *Iii his most interesting book "Nothing: but Names," Mr. Gardiner yives the name as Robert J. McClure. This is a mistake. 64 TRANSACTION.S i899-'oo jilaces on the map of our Arctic regions. There are sev^eral lirankHn's in the Provinces, for PVankhn's fate was discussed around many a fireside in British North America in the "fifties." It may be asked by an utilitarian age ctn bono ? What is the good of this District of Frankhn ? Let it pass away from our memories. It is a deserted mausoleum, strewed with the graves of heroes, if you will, but is there any money in it ? I answer ( i ). Half a dozen j^ears ago people said, "Canada is the land of waterfalls, but what is the good of them. They are in out of the way places. What is the good of having seven millions of horse power in falls and chutes wdien they cannot be utilized ?" A German student in the quiet of his laboratory dis- covered that spruce made the ])est pulp for paper. To-day, after wasting their strength for centuries to no practical purpose, ex- cept here and there driving a saw mill, the waterfalls of Canada are in great demand for pulp-making purpo.ses, and there is scarcely a fall in all the Inroad land but has been bought up or is the subject of an option for i:)urchase. I answer, ( 2 ) Look at Yukon territory. A few years ago when we took the census of 1S91, we did not think it worth while to send an enumerator into any part of the vast territory known as Yukon. We simply delegated the Hudson Bay Company's people at Fort Liard to kee]i count of the Indians from the regions watered by the Upper Liard, the Pelly and the Yukon rivers, who came to the Fort for the purjiose of trading. Now in nine years' time there are, I am informed, 15,000 or 20,000 persons grubbing for gold along the rivers, streams and creeks of that great district. Banks, churches, schoolhouses, gambling dens and homes abound, and we will have to organize as complete a staff for census purposes for Yukon as for Prince Kdward Island. Who knows what the future has in store for the district of Franklin ? We know that the musk ox abounds, for McClure's men in the term of their captivity in Bay of God's Mere}' shot 112 of the great shaggy animals on Banks Land, while further north on Melville Island the musk ox finds a con- genial habitat, and still further north Peary shot the shaggy bovine for his Christmas dinner. Deer abound. Wolves are i899-'oo TRANSACTIONS 65 numerous. Fish are in plenty. The Eskimo designate it "the land of the white bear. ' ' Anthracite coal has been found in different parts of the District. Pure copper in large masses was found in the posses- sion of the Eskimo of the Island. Vast petrified forests, capable of being utilized for the adornment of the homes of civilization have been found. Sir Edward Belcher tells of thermal springs and of gold found in North Cornwall. Indications of mineral oil are mentioned by some explorers. It was because of applications for gold areas in Southampton Island that Hon D Mills considered that a special transfer of the Island should be made to Canada.* Even those most steeped in utilitarianism will admit that there are possibilities to excite their jaded powers in these but partially explored regions. I have left to the imaginations of my hearers the trials and dangers, the exciting events experienced by these Arctic ex- plorers in thus discovering the boundaries of the District of Franklin. From many instances I take but two or three as specimens. Captain I^yon sailed from England in the "Griper" in mid- summer, 1825. In August he made the high land of South- ampton Island, and rounding its southern extreme stood up the "Welcome." As they advanced northward their compasses became useless. A heavy sea swept incessantly the crowded decks and a thick fog like a pall covered everything. Three bower anchors and a stream anchor were let go, but before the vessel was brought up by these the water had shoaled to five fathoms and a half. Momentarily expecting that the ebbing of the tide would cause the vessel's destruction, they prepared the boats, and every officer and man drew his lot with the greatest composure although two of the smaller boats would have been swamped the instant they touched the seething waters. Hour .h. A I ^f^''^ ""^'"^'^ indicated the more material of the uliHties connected with he Arctic possessions of Canada. I have not attempted to point out the ad- van ages to tlie world at larg^e to be gained by polar exploration, assochUed Tisn IndofTn"^ understanding of geology, meteorology, terrestrial inajne- .f?;. I K f departments of science which deal with the flora and ffuna o the globe and need the elucidations that are supplied by knowled^re of the plant and animal life of the polar regions. ^nowicuge ot tne 66 TRANvSACTlONS i899-'oo after hour the decks were flooded, drenching the poor fellows to the skin. The weather clearing a little, a low sandy beach was seen just astern on which the seas were breaking fearfully. Had the anchors parted no human power could have saved them. Although few of the men had any idea they could ever sur- vive the gale, lyyon ordered that every man should put on his warmest clothing and secure .some useful instrument about his person. " Each, therefore, brought his bag on deck and dressed him- self and in the fine athletic forms which stood expo.sed before me," says the narrator, " I did not .see one nniscle quiver nor notice the slightest sign of alarm. Pra^-ers were read and then all sat down in groups, sheltered from the wash of the sea by whatev^er they could find and some endeavored to obtain a little sleep. ' ' " Never," .says their gallant commander, who had not been in bed him.self for three nights, " never, perhaps, was witnes.sed a finer scene than on the deck of my little ship when all hope of life had left us. Noble as the character of the Briti.sh .sailor is always allowed to be in cases of danger yet I did not believe it to be pos.sible that among 4 1 per.'-ons not one repining word .should have been uttered. Kach was at peace with his neighbour and all the world and I am firmly persuaded that the resignation which was then shown to the will of the Almighty was the means of obtaining His mercy. God was merciful to us and the tide fell no lower. ' ' Very appropriately was the .scene of this affecting narrative named the Bay of God's Mercy. Another eventful day in the history of the District of Frank- lin was the 6th of April, 1853. Sixty-.six men were on that day in the "Investigator" enca.sed in ice in another Bay of God's Mercy on the north coast of Banks Land. They had not had a full meal for twenty months. They were reduced in .strength from the attacks of scurvy. They had just lost by death one of their messmates. The ship's stores had been carefully doled out to them and they were supplementing the dole wntli arctic mice cutlets and other luxuries. Ill their extremity they had resolved upon breaking up into parties to .set ovit in their weak emaciated condition, one over the ice to the ncrtli-ea.st, another overland to gain the north shore of the main land and thence to journey to i899-'oo TRANvSACTIONS 67 the mouth of tlie McKenzie River for the nearest Hudson Bay Company's post, while the third party was to remain with the ship. While four men with heavy hearts were digging the grave, a figure was observed approaching on the ice from the northward. The figure proved to be Lieut. Pim of H. M. " Resolute " from Melville Island "who had most providentially reached the " In- vestigator" after a most severe and harassing journey of 28 days." Dr. Armstrong, who died in July 1899, describes the event : "I cannot attempt, he says, to convey any idea of the scene which took place on board or the expressions of joy and gladness which were so abundantly poured forth when the intelligence that flew with the rapidity of lightning from st-m to stern became known. It v/as at first pronounced either a mistake or a joke. Indeed the mind for the moment appeared confused as if unable to com- prehend the truth of what was heard and several strange involun- tary questions were hastily muttered, asked and answered in a breath. At length when thoroughly aware of the reality and fully aroused by a shout of joy raised by a few men on deck, an- nouncing the approach of the strangers, there was a sudden and simultaneous rush to the hatchways, the weak and the strong, the maimed, the halt and the blind following each other, amazed and agitated, as fast as their enfeebled limbs could bear them un- til the deck was gained and they were afforded an opportunity of verifying what they had just heard. Some as doubting the reality of what they saw, rushed out on the ice and were not satisfied till they met Ueut. Pim, touched him, handled him and heard him speak when they no longer doubted. He was the first of our countrymen we had seen or whose voice we had heard for three long and dreary years. The sledge soon followed and the party were received by three as hearty cheers as ever came from the lungs of British sailors. No words could express the feeling of heart-felt gladness which all experienced at this unlooked for, this most providential arrival. Relief was now at hand; succour had reached us." I have heard from Bedford Pim's own lips the story of the meeting, told with modesty and yet with conscious pride that he had been the instrument of the rescue. The 25th August, 1854, is a daylong to be remembered in the annals of Franklin District. The crews of the ' ' Investiga- c ,^ ,. 68 TRANSACTIONS i8y9-'oo tor," who had entered on their fifth year of arctic .'•ervice, were that day on board the " North Star " at Beechey Island. With them were the crews of the "Resolute," the "Intrepid," the " Assistance," and the " Pioneer," all five vessels having been abandoned, all waiting the order of Sir Kdward Belcher to cast off from the ice floe on their homeward voyage. The order was given, and just then the faint outlines of two ships were seen through the haze. They proved to be H. M. ships " Phrenix " and "Talbot" from England, bringing with them letters for many of the crew. The men were at once distributed among the three vessels, which immediately proceeded on their course. We can imagine the joy of the men on that day. )0 re ;h It- 'll St IS 111 I > y n