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Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmis A des taux de reduction diff^rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour 6tre reproduit en un seul cliche, il est filmi A partir de Tangle sup^rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n^cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m^thode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 1836. Back's Joamey to the Arctic Sea. Ifil Art. VI. — Journal of the Arctic Land Ex- pedition to ihe Mouth of the Great Fish River, and along the sliores of the Arctic Ocean, in the Year.' 1833, 1834, and 1835. By Captain Back, R. N. Com- mander of the Expedition. 1 vol. 8vo. London, Murray. Paris, Galignani. Brussels, Pratt «& Bary. Leipsig, Black & Armstrong. Frankfort, Jiigel. Phila- delphia, Carey & Hart. 1836. This is an honest book — the production of a plain, strj ight-forward, veracious traveller — and that is saying a great deal. If Captain Back be not known to the reading world as an author, his name, at least, is familiar to all who have "ken any interest in the north- ern expeditions of Franklin and Richardson, of whose perilous adventures he was the con- stant sharer and unflinching companion. In the course of these enterprizcs he distinguish- ed himself on two occasions, the object being that of extending the geography of the sea- coast of the Arctic regions of North-Ameri- ca, and of confirming the accounts given by Hearne and Mackenzie, the first travellers who had reached these shores ; and at the same time to endeavor to ascertain the con- tinuity or otherwise of a water-communica- tion between Behring's Strait and Hudson's Bay. There is nothing perhaps on record more truly affecting than the simple and un- adorned tale told by Sir John Franklin of the almost unparalleled sufferings which he ..nd his companions were doomed to undergo from the fatigue of travelling hundreds of miles amidst frost and snow-storms, without shelter, without fire, and without food ; so nearly at one time reduced to a state of ab. solute starvation, as to be driven to the last resource of devouring their own shoes and leather gun-cases, rendered somewhat per- haps more palutabic by the addition of a mi- serably bitter lichen which they jtickcd off the rocks. We advert to these adventures now to show that Captain Back, in volunta- rily undertaking the one hen) reci, ded, was fully aware of tlio dangers, the privations, and the hardships which it was all but cor- tiiin it would be his lot again to suffer. It was with such a prospect before his eyes, that on hearing, when in Italy, in the year 1832, that the fate of Ross nnd his compan- ions still remained uncertain, he hastened to England, with the intention of offering his services to government to conduct an expe- dition in search of ihem. Ho arrived here at the moment when such an cxpeuition was in preparation ; and it is almost unnecessary to add that the volunteer services of Captain (then Commander) Back were joyfully ac- cepted. T:n,^ 162 Back's Journey to the Arctic Sea. Aprili After the accounts wo have formerly given of the expeditions under Sir John Franklin and Dr. Richardson in the northern regions of America, it would be idle in us to enter into a particular description of the incidents in Captain Back's. In his own nervous and picturesque narrative, the details of even the first part of his travels arc most interesting : the best analysis we could afford would seem a mere repetition. Captain Back left London on the 17th February, 1333, accompanied by Mr. King, a surgeon, and three men, two of whom had gained experience under Sir Joim Franklin. At New York they received every possible attention and hospitality ; and a steam-ves- sel was offered for their conveyance to Al- bany. Nothing could exceed the kindness and exertions of Governor Simpson and all the servants of the Hudson's Bay Company. A sufficient number of voyageura were pro- cured at La Chine ; and Captain Back was ready to leave Norway House on the 28th June with sixteen persons, consisting of steersmen, carpen;ers, artillery-men, fisher- men, and voyageuTS, to whom were after- wards added nine others. ' This,' says the Captain, ' was a happy day for me ; ond as the canoe pushed off from the bank, my heart swelled with hope and joy. Now, for the first time, I saw myself in a con- dition to verify the kind anticipations of my friends. The preliminary difficulties had been overcome : I was fairly on the way to the accomplishment of the benevolent eriand on which 1 had been commissioned ; and the contemplation of an object so worthy of all exertion, in which I thought myself ut length free to indulge, raised my spirits to a more than ordinary pitch of excitement' — p. 57. At Pine Portage he met with Mr. M'Leod, one of the Hudson's Bay Company's ser- vants, and though this gentleman was on his way to Canada for the rc-establishment of his health, no sooner did he learn the hu- mane object of the mission, than he deter- mined nt once to sacrifice his own plans to the pleasure of becoming the companion of Back ; by which disinterested act, six persons — Mr. M'Leod, his wife, three children, and a servant — were added to the eight, who with their baggage had already pretty well filled the single canoe. This, however, it appears, was nothing unusual, and not to be compared with the compact way in which the Indians stow themselves. A whole fleet of their canoes was met on the Slave River de- sccnding from the Great Slave Lake : the description of one of them is as follows : — • It was small even for n canoe ; and how eight men, women, and children contrived to stow away their legs in a space not more than large enough for three Europeans, wo«ld have been a puzzling problem to one unacquainted with the suppleness of an Indian's unbandug- ed limbs. 'There, however, they were, in a temperature of 06°, packed heads and tails, like Yarmouth herrings — half naked — their hair in elf-locks, long and matted — filthy be- yond description — and all squalling together. To complete the picture, their dogs, scarce one degree below them, formed a sort of body guard on each side of the river, and as the canoe glided away with the current, all the animals together, human and canine, set up a shrill and norrible yell.' — p. 79. From the chief of those people, who went by the name of • Le Camarade de Mande- ville,' Captain Back received important in- fornr.afion, which he afterwards ascertained to be correct, of two great rivers beyond the Great Slave Lake, the Teh-Ion and the Thlew-ee-choh, the latter of which he was destined to navigate to its source. On the 8th August the party reached Great Slave Lake, and were received at Fort Resolution, a station of the Hudson's Bay Company, by Mr. M'Donnell, the gentleman in charge. Determined to lose no time in search of the river that was to conduct him to the sea, Captain Back set out on the 11th, in an old canoe, with his servant, an Englishman, a Canadian, two half-breeds, and two Indians, on an exploring expedition. All was plain sailing as far as the eastern portion of Great Slave Luke, into which fell an unknown river, with a steep and rocky bed, to which the name of Hoar-frost River was given. We have a beautiful print of Beverley's Fall, near the mouth of this river, which will convey an idea of what these falls, so very numerous in all the rivers in North America, are. Indeed, this particular river was so encumbi'red with cascades and ra|)ids, that not only their baggage and provisions but the canoe also had to be carried up the high, steep, and ruggid ridges, over swamps of thick stunted firs, and open spaces barren and desolate, on which ' crag was piled upon crag to a height of two thousand feet from the base.' The lal)or was excessive ; but, says our traveller — « The laborious duty which had been thus satisfactorily performed was rendered doubly severe by the combined attack of myriads of sand-flies and mosquitoes, which made our faces stream with blood. There is certainly no form of wretchedness, among those to which the chequered life of a toya^cur is ex- posed, nt once so great and so humitiuting, as the torture inflicted by these puny blood- suckers. To avoid them is impossible ; and as for defending himself, though for a tirds he may go on crushing by thouMnds, be can- April, t more than would have lacquainted unbandug. were, in a s and tails, iked — their —filthy be- ng together, ogs, scarce I a sort of iver, and as current, all . canine, set 79. i, who went dc Mandc- iportant in- ascertained beyond the in and the lich ho was !. On the jreat Slave Resolution, ompany, by in cliai'ge. larch of the to the sea, h, in an old glishtnan, a wo Indians, II was plain an of Great n unknown Bcl, fo which was given. ' Beverley's r, which will ills, so very th America, ver was so rnpids, that sioiis but the p the high, swamps of jces barren s piled upon ul feet from essive ; but, d been thus ered doubly ' myriads of h made our is certainly ing those to Higc.nr is ex. miliuting, as puny blood- 3s.sible; and for a tirue nds, be can- 1836. Back's Journey to the Arctic Sea. 153 not long maintain the unequal conflict ; so that at last, subdued by pain niul fiitigue, he throws himself in despair with his face to the earth, and half suffocated in his blanket, groans away a few hours of sleepless rest.' — p. 117. The mild and gentle character of the gal- lant Franklin is generally well known ; but Back mentions an anecdote, of which he was reminded by an old Indian, of his patient and humane forbearance even to the meanest and most tormenting of God's creatures : — ' It was the custom of Sir John Franklin never to kill a fly, and, though teas(;d by them beyond expression, especially when engaged in taking observations, he would quietly de- sist from his work, and patiently blow the half-gorged intruders from his hands — " the world was wide enough for both." This was jocosely remarked upon at the time by Akait- choand the four or five Indians who accom- panied him ; but the impression, it seems, had sunk deep, for on Maufelly's seeing me fdl my tent with smoke, and then throw open the front and beat the sides all round with leafy branches, to drive out the stupitied pests be- fore I went to rest, he could not refrain from expressing his surprise that I should be so un- like the uld chief, who would not destroy so much as a single mosquito.' — p. 180. It would almost seem that these creatures are iin|)erishable ; at least tliey survive a second year. If we recollect rightly, it is Ellis, ii. his account of the doleful voyage of Captain James, who says, he carried a frozen mass ol what lie thought peat, aiid laid it before the fire, when shortly the whole room was filled with a cloud of mosquitos ; they had clustered together, and become a frozen mass, like bees wlnui about to cast their swarms. Many other of the inferior and cold-blooded i-lasses of animals freeze in the winter and revive in the spring. The swarms of sand-flies — L-ailed brufols by the Cana- dians — seem to be fully as annoying as the mosquitos. • As we dived into the confined and sufl"ocat- ing chasms, or wiidled through the close swamps, they rose in clouds, actually darken- ing the air : to see or to speak was equally dillicult, for they rushed at every undefended part, and fixed their poisonous tangs in an in- stant. Our faces streamed with blood, as if leeches had been applied ; and there was a burning and irritating pa in, l<>llowed by imme- diate inflammation, and producing giddiness which almost drove us mad. Whenever we hnltt'd, which the nature of the country com- pelled us to do often, the men, even Indians, threw ihemsi'lves on their faces, imd moai;ed with piiin and agony. My arms being li.-ss encumberiid, I defended myself in some de- gree by waving a branch in each hand ; but vor.. Lvr. 20 even with this and the aid of a veil and stout leather gloves, I did not escape without severe punishment. For the time, I thought the tiny plagues worse even than mosquitos.' — p. 179. The river bceamo more rocky, and cata- ract succeeded cataract in quick succession, so as to render it perfectly unnavigable. At length ' One or two more rapids, and a narrow fall of twenty feet, terminated the ascent of this turbulent and unfriendly river. Nothing, however, can be more romantically beautiful than the wild scenery of its course. High rocks beetling over the rapids like towers, or rent into the most diversified forms, gay with various-colored mosses, or shaded by over- hanging trees — now a tranquil pool, lying like a sheet of silver — now the dash and foam of a cataract, — these are a part only of its picturesque and striking features.' — p. 119. Here a poor Indian came up, who liad left the party some days before with only two charges of powder, which he had lost, im. ploring something for his family to eat. ' Had there been only my wife wi»h me,' he said in a faint voice, ' I would not have troubled the chief, for we could have lived upon berries ; but when I looked upon my child, and heard its cries, my heart failed me, and I sought for relief.' More rapids were to be passed, and more fatiguing portages to be surmount, ed, much to the annoyance of the crew. At length, however, they gained the summit. Beyond this was a lake with some dark fir- trees on its margin, and farther on another of very considerable dimensions to which Back gave the name of Walmesley, But it now became evident that the guide was completely at fault, and he admitted that he had not been in this part of the country since he was a Iwy. They continued, however, to paddle away along the edge of a sheet of (jld ice. The thermometer was ilown to 31°, yot the mosquitos and the brulots swarmed nmumeruble, and were most tormenting. At the spot where they encamped no living thing besides these was seen or heard ; the air was calm, the lake unrufllcd — • it seemed,' says our traveller, ' as if Nature had fallen into a tronce, for all was silent and motion- less as death.' At length the guide disco> vered some sand-hills, and Ijeyond them a great lake, ut the sight of which his coun- tenance lighted up, and he said, doubtingly, 'These places look familiar to me.' The canoe was draggcul among the sand-hills, and having navigated Clinton. Golden Lake, they entered the largest that had yet occurred. To this splendid sheet of water Captain Back gave the name of Aylmer, in honor of 154 Back's Journey to the Arctic Sea. April, the late governor-general of Canada. On the liigh sand-hills at the eastern extremity of this lake Captain Back observed some little rills of water, which took a northerly direc- tion towards a small lake, which, though the height of the land, intervening between it and the lake he had just left, was not a great many feet, he was willing to hope might be the source of the river he had long been in search of; and so it turned out to be. To this source ho gave the name of Sussex, in honor of the Roval Duke. Back soon satisfied himself that he had now discovered the Thlew-ce-choh, or, as the Geographical Society have very properly called it, and as wo shall hereafter do — Back's liiver. The month of August had expired, and having made this important discovei-y, he deemed it prudent and indeed imperative on him to re- turn. This he effected by a different route, and by a different river, which, falling into a large sheet of water, named by him the Ar- tillery Lake, led to the eastern extremity of Great Slave Lake, near the spot where Mr. M'Leod had been sent to establish their winter-quarters, and whei-e, on their arrival, he found the newly erected frame-work of a house at the bottom of a snug cove, backed by the dark-green foliage of a wood of fir- trees. The completion of this establishment for the winter went on cheerily : — ' The men were divided into parlies, and appointed to regular tasks : some to the fell- ing of trees, and squaring them into beams or rallers; others to the sawing of slabs and planks. Here was a group awkwardly chip- ping the shapeless granite mto something like form ; and there a party in a boat in search of mud and grass for mortar. It was an ani- mated scene ; and, set off as it was by the white tents and smoky leather lodges, con- trasting with the mountains and green woods, it was picturesque as well ns interesting.' — p. 190. Numbers of Indians, especially the old, the sick, and the miserable, soon found their way to the house of the white man, in search of that succor and relief from starvation, which is rarely in the power of their own country- men to bestow. It is a remarkable trait in their character that, kind and affectionate as they are to their children, they are totally in- different to the wants and the sufferings oi' tlie aged and the infirm. A poor old wo- man was found on the opposite side of tho bay, helpless and alone, ' bent double by age and infirmities, and rendered absolutely frightful by famine and disease.' As a spe- cimen of too numerous a class, we give Back's description of this poor creature : — ' Clnd in deer-skins, her eyes all but closed. her hair matted %nd filthy, her skin shrivel- led, and feebly supporting, with the aid of a stick held by both hands, a trunk which was literally horizontal, she presented, if such an expression may be pardoned, the shocking and unnatural appearance of a human brute. It was a humiliating spectacle, and one which I would not willingly see again. Poor wretch ! Her talc was soon told : old and decrepit, she had come to be considered as a burden even by her own sex. Past services and toils were forgotten ; and in their figura- tive style they coldly told her that, " though she appeared to live, she was already dead," and must be abandoned to her fate. " There is a new fort," said they ; " go there ; the whites are great medicine men, and may have power to save you." This was a month be- fore ; since which time she had crawled and hobbled along the rocks, the scanty supply of berries which she found upon them just en- abling her to live. Another day or two must have ended her sufferings.' — p, 193. It was not till the end of October that the river and the borders of the lake were frozen over; and meantime the sufferings of the Indians for want of food became extreme. These poor people, seeing the instruments in the observatory, were but too ready to ascribe to them the mysterious cause of all their mis- fortunes ; nor were they singular in this : two of the voyageurs, says Captain Back, ' when we were taking the dip, hearing the words "Now! — Stop!" always succeeded by a perfect silence, looked at each other, and, with significant shrugs, turning hastily away from the railing, reported to their companions that they verily believed I was raising the devil.' It was not tliut there was actually any scarcity of deer or musk-oxen ; several hundreds in a group were frequently seen ; but the mildness of the season and the abun. dance of the reindeer lichen kept them be- yond the usual period on the barren plains, wiiere they could not be got at within gun- Slot distance. Not only the deer but the fishery failed them ; and the mild weather continuing, by the end of November all their supplies had been exhausted. 'Distress was ')revalent, and the din and screeching of wo- men and children too plainly indicated the acuteness of their suffering.' At this mo- ment the appearance of Captain Back's old acquaintance of a former expedition, Akait- cho, with a little meat, enables him to grant a. momentary relief. This ancient chief wore the silver medal which had been given to him at Fort Enterprise by Sir John Frank, lin, as a proof that ho hud not forgotten his friends. Many of the Indians went off with this old hunter, who promised the Captain that he and his people should not want as long as he could procure anything to send to the tort, April, kin shrivel, the aid of a i which was 1, if such an le shocking urnan brute. (1 one which gain. Poor Id : old and aidered as a Past services their figura- lut, "though ready dead," ite. "There there ; the nd may have a month be- crawlcd and nty supply of lem just en- ' or two must 193. ober that the 3 were frozen rings of the me extreme. nstrumentB in jdy to ascribe ■ all their mis- r in this : two Back, * when g the words leeded by a h other, and, ; hastily away ir companions ,s raising the was actually ).\cn ; several qucntly seen ; and the abun. ;ept them be- barren plains. It within gun- deer but the mild weather imber all their ' Distress was celling of wo- iiidicatcd the At this mo- n Back's old [edition, Akait. him to grant ancient chief \d been given rJohn Frank, forgotten his went off with 1 the Captain :! not want as ling to send to 1636. Back's journey Ic the Arctic Sett. 165 Towards the oiid of December absolute famine stared the whole party in the face. The Indians in shoals foil back on the fort as the only chance of prolonging their ex- istence. 'In vain did we endeavor to revive their drooping spirits, and excite them to action ; the scourge was too heavy, and their exer- tions were entirely paralysed. No sooner had one party closed the door, than another, still more languid and distressed, feebly open- ed it, and confirmed by their half-famished looks and sunken eyes their heart-rending tale of sufT'iring. They spoke little, but crowded in silence round the fire, as if eager to enjoy the only comfort remaining to them. A handful of i.iouldy pounded meat, which had been originally reserved for our dogs, was the most liberal allowance we cuuld make to each ; and this meal, unpalatable and unwholesome as it was, together with the customary presentation of the friendly pipe, was sufficient to efface for a moment the re- collection of their sorrows, and even to light up their faces with a smile of hope. " We know," they said, "that yon are as much distre-sscd as; ourselves, and you are very good ." Afflicting as it was to behold such scenes of suffering, it was at the same time gratifying to observe the resignation with wnich they were met. There were no impious upbraid- ings of Providence, nor any of those revolting acts, too frequent within late years, which have cast a darker shade over the character ofthelndian.'— p. 310. • Our hall was in a manner filled with in- valids and other stupidly-dejected beings, who, scaled round the fire, occupied them- selves in roasting and devouring small bits of their reindeer garments, which, even when entire, afforded them a very insufficient pro- tection against a temperature of 102" below thi freezing point. The father torpid and de- spairing — the mother, with a hollow and se- pulchral Wail, vainly endeavoring to soothe the Infant, which with Unceasing moan clung to her shrivelled and exhausted breast — the passive child gazing vacantly around ; such was one of the many groups that surrounded us.'— p. 218. ' Often,' says Captain Back, • did I share my own plate with the childre,), whose help- less state and piteous cries were peculiarly distressii.g : compassion for the full grown may or may not be felt, but that heart must be cosed in steel which is insensible to the cry of a child for food.' Tlio lamentable si- tuation in which they were placed, the scanty rations of pemmican to which the party was reduced, produced, however, no sullen or sulky looks in the fine fellows Back had en gaged in England and Canada : they were always cheerful and in good spirits. Back, in imitation of his old commander F"ranklin, instituted an evening school for their amuse- ment. He pursued his astronomical obser* vations, and when the thermometer at the end of December was at 70° below zero, made experiments on the effect and intensity of the cold on sulphuric and nitric ether, and pyroligncous acid, which are curious ; but we must pass over the results. ' Such, indeed, was the abstraction of heat, that witii eight large logs of dry wood in the fireplace of a small room, 1 could not get the thermometer higher than 12° plus. Ink and paint froze. The sexti-.nt cases, and boxes of seasoned wood, principally fir, all split. Nor was the sensation particularly agreeable to our persons ; the skin of the hanJs especially became dry, cracked, and opened into un- sightly and smarting gashes, which we were obliged to anoint with grease. On one occa- sion, af\er washing my face within three feet of the fire, my hair was actually clotted with ice before I had time to dry it. From these facts some idea may, perhaps, be formed of the excessive cold. It seemed to have driven all living things from us : we had been ac- customed to see a few white partridges about, but even these, hardy as they are, had disap- peared. Once, indeed, a solitary raven, whose croak made me run out to look at him, swept round the house, but immediately wing- ed his flight to the westward. Nothing but the passing wind broke the awful solitude of this barren and desolate spot.' — p. 223. The suflerings of the poor Indians at this period ai-e not to be described. 'Famine, with her gaunt and bony arm,' says Back, ♦ pursued them at every turn, withered their energies, and strewed them lifeless on the cold bosom of the snow.' Nine had fallen victims already, and others were on the eve of perishing, when old Akaitcho, during this appalling period of suffering and calamity, proved himself the firm friend of the expedi- tion. By his encouraging language and for- titude he kept up their desponding spirits, boldly encountered every difSculty, and made others act by the foicc of his example. Mau- felly, also, another Indian chief, came oppor- tunely with the joyful information, that he had five deer killed for them within a couple of days' walk. Shortly after another chief, Le Camarado dc Mandeville, brought to the fort two sledges of dried meat ; and at the same time came a further supply from Mr. M'Leod, who had gone to a distance with a fishing party ; accompanied, however, with the painful intelligence, that he and his fa- mily were surrounded by difficulties, priva- tions, and deaths. ' Six more natives of either sex had sunk under the horrors of star- vation.' To add to the affliction suffered by Cap- ta'n Back, he received <\ packet from Hud- sen's Bay by a person who told him that his cid friend Augustus, the former affectionate 15d Back's Journey to the Arctic Sea. April, 1836. Esquimaux interpreter, no sooner licard that he was again in the country than he re- solved to join him ; and he had actually walked from Hudson's Bay widi that inteti- tion, in company of a Canadian and an Iro- quois. They lost their way, se|)arated, and poor Augustus fell a sacrifice to famine ; his body was some time after this found in the barrens. ' He was,' says Captain Back, ' a faithful, disinterested, kind-hearted creature, who had won the regard not of myself only, but I may add of Sir J. Franklin and Dr, Richardson also, by qualities v. liicli, wherever found, in the lowest as in the highest forms of social life, are the ornament and charm of humanity.' About the middle of April the prospects of the party began to brighten, and active pre- parations weie making for their expedition to the sea-coast. On the 25th of that month a messenger arrived with a packet, which brought Captain Bade the welcome intelli- gence of the safety of Ross and his party. The excitement and iiurry of his feelings may well be imagined. He says — ' In the fulness of our hearts wo assembled together, and humbly offered up our thanks to that merciful Providence, which in the beautiful language of Scripture hath said, " Mine own wdl I bring again, as I did some- time from the deeps of the sea." The thought of so wonderful a preservation overpowered for a time the common occurrences of life. We had but just sat down to breakfast ; but our upjietite was gone, and the day was pass- ed in a feverish state of excitement. Seldom, indeed, did my friend Mr. King or I indulge in a libation, but on this joyful occasion eco- nomy was forgotten ; a treat was given to the men, and for ourselves the social sympathies were quickened by a generous bowl of punch.' —p. 245. This intelligence determined Back to pro- ceed to the shore of the Arctic Sea with one boat only ; this plan would suit best the re- duced state of the party and their provisions ; — while those left behind, in the summer sea- son, would have no difBcuity, with the a.ssist- ance of the Indians, not only to supply them- selves with food, but also to collect a quan- tity for general use against the Captain's re- turn from the northward. It was the 7th June when Captain Back, accompanied by Mr. King, left Fort Reliance. We can easily imagine with what sensations this brave and zealous traveller set out on this expedition of discovery ; how delighted to escape from the wretchedness of a dreary and disastrous winter — from scenes and tales of suffering and death — from wearisome in- action and monotony — from disuppointincnt and hearti*ickening care. ' Before me,' he says, ' were novelty and enterprise ; hope, curiosity, and the love ol adventure we.-e my companions ; and even the prospfjct of difli- cullies and dangers to he encountered, with the responsibility inseparable from command, instead of damping, rather heightened the en- joyment of the moment.' It !s not necessary to take notice of their progress along the same, or pretty much the same, tract of country they had passed over on their return from Back's River the preced- ing autumn. It may suffice to ga), that on the 28th June die boat was carried over the last and short portuge which divides the wa- ters running to the south from those taking a northerly direction ; and in the afternoon they had the satisfaction of launching the boat into Back's River, which, from previous in- formation, they had every reason to hope would convey them into the Arctic Sea. The weather had been generally most severe dur- ing the month of June — the thermometer be- low the freezing point — foggy, and attended with storms of enow, hail, and rain : yet, at the end of May, a week before they started, the weather had become so sultry, that the temperature in the sun rose to 100'', forming an extraordinary contrast with that of the 17ih January, when the thermometer stood at 70° below zero. Mr. M'Leod and his party here took leave, and returned to Fort Resolution on the 8th July. Back's party now consisted of ten persons only — himself and Mr. King, two Highlanders, two half-breeds, one man from Orkney, and three English artillerymen. The weight lor the boat to carry was estimated at 3360 pounds, exclusive of the awning, masts, yards, sails, spare oars, poles, planking, and the crew. For many days past the weather had been thick and foggy, but on its clearing away suddenly, the branching antlers of twenty reindeer were seen spreading over the summits of the adjacent hills. To see and pursue were the work of a moment. ' It was a beautiful and interesting sight, for the sun shone out, and lighting up soiih- parts cast others into deeper shade ; the white ice retlectcd millions of dazzling rays; th(; rapid leapt and chafed in little ripples, which melt- ed away into the unrutlled surface of the slumbering lake ; abrupt and craggy rocks frowned on the right ; and, on the left, the brown landscape receded until it was lost in the distant blue mountains. The foreground was filled up with the ochre-colorei* lodges of the Indians, contrasting with our own pule tents ; and to the whol'i scene animation was given by the graceful motions of the unsturt- led deer, and the treacherous crawling of the wary hunters.' — p. 307. They soon had occasion to perceive what ever, on sage thn eastern which is compara covered smoothly dous gne feet hiij From hei made it their caq sage oft peatcdiy the boat often did the threa Strong whiilpoo kept the and anxi that turn hiost for 3 here the) party of ' April, 1836. Back's Journey to the Arctic Sea. 157 rise ; hope, c we.-e my i;ct of (liffi. ilcred, with command, ned the en- ice of their y much tlio massed over the preced- la) , that on ed over the Jes the wa- ise taking a ) afternoon ing the boat previous in- on to hope Sea. The severe dur- lometer be- id attended lin : yet, at hoy started, ry, that the 0", fonning t of the 17tli tood at 70° took leave, on the 8th sted of ten King, two 3 man from ymen. The jstimated at ling, masts, inking, and he weather its clearing antlers of ad ing over Is. To see loment. ig sight, for I sonu; parts 10 white ice i ; th(' rapid wliich melt- face of the aggy rocks the left, the was lost in foreground ei' lodges of r own pale mation was the unstart- ivling of the rccivo what kind of difficulties and perils they were likely to experience from the character of t..e river — full of j-npids, cascades, and cataracts, the descent of which, Back says, ' made him hold his breath ; expecting to see the boat dashed to shivers against some protruding rocks, amidst the foam and fury at the foot of a ranid.' In j)assing down one of these, where the river, full of large rocks and boulders, was hemmed in by a wall of ice, and the stream flying with the force and velocity of a torrent, the boat was lightened of her cargo ; and ' I stood,' says Back, ' on a high t ock, with an anxious heart, to see her run it. It was impossible not to feel that one crash would be fatal to the expedition. Away they went with the speed of an arrow, and in a moment the foam and rocks hid them from my view. I heard what sounded in my ear like a wild shriek ; I followed with an agita- tion which may be conceived, and to my in- expressible joy, found that the shriek was the triumphant whooj) of the crew, who had landed safely in a small bay below,' On the 16th July, after having passed some heavy rapids and cascades, a large stream, as broad as the Thames at Westminster, fell from the south-east info Back's River. On the 19th July, having reached the parallel of 66^^ latitude, they entered a lake of immense extent, full of deep bays on every side and without any current. Here it puzzled them exceedingly to find out the spot where the water was dischargeu into the river ; but the worst was ' the startling sight of extensive and unbroken fields of ice, stretching to the cxtremest point of vision.' At length, how- ever, on the ■^2d July, after threading a pas- sage through a barrier of ice in the south- eastern corner of this large sheet of water, which is called Lake Macdougali, and in a comparatively contracted chaimel, they dis- covered ' the whole force of the water gliding smoothly but irresistibly towards two stupen- dous gneiss rocks, from five to eight hundred feet high, rising like islands on either side.' From hence a series of falls succeeded, which made it necessary to carry every article of their cargo over a long portage. The pas- sage of the boat was most alarming. ' Re. peatedly did the strength of the current hurl the boat within an inch of destruction, and as often did these able and intrepid men ward off the threatened danger.' Strong and heavy rapids with falls and whirlpools for the next eighty or ninety miles kept the men in a constant state of exertion and anxiety, when they came at length to one that turned out to be the last, as it was thi; tnost formidable that had yel occurred ; and here thoy I'ell in with, and took by surprise, a party of Esquimaux, who were not a little as- tonished to look upon a set of beings so dif< ferent from any they had hitherto been accus- tonied to see : — ' Some, called out to us, and others made signs, warning us, as we thought, to avoid the fall, and cross over to their side of the water ; but when our intention of doing so was appa- rent, the men ran towards tis, brandishing their speai-s, uttering loud yells, and, with wild gesticulations, motioning to us not to land.'— p. 379. Captain Back landed alone, and, without visible weapon, walked deliberately up to them, and, imitating their own action of throwing up his hands, called out Timd — peace. In an instant their spears were flung upon the ground, and, placing their hands on their breasts, they also called out Timd. Some brass buttons, fish-hooks, and other trifles soon gained their confidence and good will. They had a few tents of poles and skins, five canoes, knives, spears and arrows ; and their whole number might be about thirty-five. Back had recollected a few words of their language, and had with him a vocabulary, so that he was able to make them comprehend his wants, the chief of which was information. One of them, an intelligent fellow, drew on paper the line of the river on the right bank to the northward, and gave it a sudden and extraordinary bend to the southward. He then led Back to the summit of the highest rock, and made a curve witli his hand from west to east, repeating very quick, ' Tarreoke, tarreoke ' — the sea, the sea ; and having brought his hand to bear about E.S.E., he at once stopped, saying — ' Tarreoke naga,' &c. ; importing that, in that direction, there was no sea, but plenty of musk-oxen. Captain Back here observes that ' where there is no common language for the interchange of ideas, all conclusions mrst at best be uncertain ; and few men have so much mastery over themselves as not to lean unconsciously towards a preconceived opi- nion.' He is quite right ; and he might have instanced, among the Males of tiavellers,' long and minute accounts of the manners, customs, religion, and even biographies of this secluded and dwarfish race, furnished by those who knew scarcely the most common words of their language. Here, however, the man's words and signs accorded with his drawing, and were subsequently verified. These good-natured and friendly people were of essential service to Captain Back ; for information having been brought to him by his men, that the fall was so tremendous that no boat could survive the descent, and that the crew were quite unequal to the task of conveying it over the long and lofty port- 168 Back's Journey to the Arctic Sea. April, 1836. age, he ntndc significant signs to the Esqui- maux to lend them a helping hand. ' The I0(iiie3t was cheerfully complied with, and with their assistance we succeeded in carry, ing the boat below the fall ; so that, in reality, I was indebted to them for getting to the sea at all.' On the Q9th July, the day after parting with the Esquimaux, on the fog clearmg up, they got signt of a majestic headland in the extreme distance to the north, on the eastern side of the river, which had so coast-like an appearance that no doubt could be enter, tained of its being one side of the opening into the sea ; and so it proved to bo on ap. preaching it, and received the name of her Royal Highness the Princess Victoria. On the party arriving at this promontory, Cap. tain Back thus sums up a brief and general view of this impetuous river : — 'This, then, may be considered as the mouth of the Thlew-ee-choh, which, after a violent and tortuous course of five hundred and thirty geographical miles, running through an iron-ribbed country without a sin- gle tree on the whole line of its banks, expand- ing into fine large lakes with clear horizons, most embarrassing to the navigator, and broken into falls, cascades, and rapids, to the number of no less than eighty-three in the whole, pours its waters into the Polar Sea in latitude 67 degrees 11 minutes N., and longi- tude 94 degrees 30 minutes W. ; that is to aay, about thirty-seven miles more south than the mouth of the Copper Mine River, and nineteen miles more south than that of Back's River at the lower extremity of Bathurst's Inlet.'— p. 390. After a perusal of the narrative of this part of the expedition, we must say that the diffi- culties which Captain Back and his ' brave band of brothers ' had to encounter, the dan- gers to which they were frequently exposed in overcoming them, the fatigue and priva- tions they had to endure, and, in the midst of all, the patience, good humor, and willingness manifested on some veiy trying occasions, are above all praise ; and more particularly so when, at an advanced period of the year, all the symptoms of winter had begun to threaten them with incarceration in the most desolate, inhospitable, and, from the expe- rience he had of it, detestable region of the globe. In the best possible view of their con- dition, they had before them the undisguised and not to be concealed truth, that the return to their winter-quarters must be made by the same long and arduous route, now rendered doubly difficult and arduous by having all the rapids, and falls, and cascades opposing, in- stead of aiding, their progress. But other difficulties and hardships awaited them. Though the main object of the expe- dition no longer existed, Captain Back was anxious not to leave the coast until he had gained all the geographical information that the circumstances of the weather and the ad- vanced season of the year would allow ; but the whole of the estuary of the river was block- ed up with ice. The bluff point described by the Esquimaux was full before them, at a short distance beyond Cape Victoria ; but to have attempted to double that point, amidst the obstacles that surrounded them, would have involved them in inextricable difficulties ; for the prevailing westerly winds and current packing the drift ice mto Prince Regent's Inlet would have rendered their return utterly impossible. This bluff point, which was named Cape Hay, appears to i . .he northern extreme of the eastern coast. The weuther for ten days continued chilly, wet, and foggy ; during which they were mostly blocked up by ice, and unable to make any progress. This was mortification enough ; but it was not all. The reindeer moss and a species of fern, the only products of this desolate region, were so much soaked with wet that they woidd not burn ; so that, although they could and did kill deer, and might have got musk- oxen, they had no means cf cooking their flesh — not even to boil a little water for tea. In eight days, we think Back says, they had but one hot meal. In this cheerless and wretched condition, without fire — without any species of warm food — the rain scarcely ceasing for a moment, except to give way to snow — in sjch a state of suffering — and in total ignorance of what might be their future fate, — we agree with Captain Back, that ' it cannot be a matter of astonishment, and much less of blame, that even the best men, benumbed in their limbs, and dispirited by the dreary and unpromising prospect before them, broke out for a moment into low murmurings that theirs was a hard and painful duty.' An event, apparently of trifling importance, was sufficient to divert their attention for a time from their deplorable situation. On the 10th August they had reached the latitude of 68° 10' on the western side of the estuary, from whence a party was sent to the west- ward to make observations. In the evening of that day, the Captain says — • A shoBt of " What have you got there 1" announced the return of the men : the jocular answer of •• A piece of the North Pole," im- mediately brought Mr. King and mysolf from ou' the tent; and we found that they had really picked up a piece of drift.woo J nine feet long and nine inches in diameter, together with a few sticks of smaller drifl-wood, and a part of a canoe. When the large trunk was sawed, I was rather surprised to see it very little sod- April, 1836. Back's Journey to the Arctic Sea. 159 of the expo, n Back was ntil he had rmntion that ' and the ad- d allow ; but sr was block - described by I them, at a foria ; but to point, amidst them, would c difficulties ; I and current ice Regent's eturn utterly which was .he northern The weuther t, and foggy ; blocked up ny progress. but it was d a species of solate region, ct that they gh they could ve got musk- cooking their vatcr for tea. ays, ihey had jhcerless and — without any rain scarcely o give way to jring — and in )e their future Back, that ' it lishmcnt, and the best men, spirited by the ?.t before them, iv murmurings iful duty.' ig importance, ttcntion for a tion. On the id the latitude Df the estuary, t to the west- [n the evening u got there 1" n : the jocular rth Pole," im- d mysolf from that they had i-wood nine feet ', together with lod, and a part ink was sawed, very little sod- den with water ; a proof that it could not have been exposed for any considerable time to its action. From the peculiar character of the wood, which was pine, of that kind which is remarkable for its freedom from knots, 1 had no doubt that it had originally grown some- where in the upper part of the country, about the Mackenzie ; and of this I was the more competent to judge from my recollection of the drift-wood west of that large river, which it exactly resembled. Though we had strong reasons to be grateful for this unlooked-for treasure, as affording us 'the means of enjoy- ing a hot meal — the; tirst for several days,— yet there were other considerations which gave it in my eyes a far greater importance. In it 1 saw what I thought an incontrovertible proof of the set of a current from the westward along the coast to our left, and that conse- quently we had arrived at the main line of the land : for it is a fact well known to the officers of both Sir John Franklin's "x;".!!- tions, that the absence of drift-wood Wus al- ways regarded as an infallible sign that we had gone astray from the miui,, either among islands or in some such opening as Bathurst's Inlet, where, by reason of the set of the cur- rent, not a piece of any si2,e was found.' — p. 413. Several other pieces of drift-wood, besides this log, were found by Mr. King, also a musk-ox and the greater part of the ver'eid-a; and ribs of a whale, lying on the boach. No doubt could be entertain';J of all these being brought by tb') current from the westward. Captain Back was very desirous, but the dif- ficulty was how, to get upon that coast, wedged in as they were by a body of ice that seemed to fill the whole extent of the estuary, which in its narrowest part appears by the chart to be twenty miles, and its de[)th from Victoria Headland to Point Richardson seventy miles. All that could be done was to despatch a party overland to trace the coast to the westward, but they had only been able to follow the shore about fifteen miles with the greatest exertion and hard labor, sinking into snow and swamp mid-leg deep at every step. The naked and uniform sur- face was broken only by one green hill, to which was given the name of Mount Barrow. From the summit of this hill v/as seen a wide opening in the land to the south-west, — in all probability the estuary of another river. ' To the north-east,' says Captain Back, 'there was water and ice, and beyond it a dark-grey or what is denominated a water-sky, while from the east to Cape Hay there was an open sea.' On i!n' evening of the 13th August, when wcdr'^.; iii on every side, and not ten yards of optin v"i ;er to be seen in any part of the ■:3tuary, s'^ddonly, as if by magic, the whole bofiy of ICO began to drifl with great rapidity in the direction of west-north-west. ' I was convinced, therefore,' says Back,, ' that there must be in that particular bearing either a main sea or a very deep opening, to have al- lowed the escape of so great a portion of the immense extent of ice before us.' The next day a north-west wind brought it all back again. Captain Back had hoped that the permanent opening of the ice would have af- forded him ilie means of tracing the coa^t as far as Cape Turnagairi ; but it was now — the 18th August — but too clear that any such hope must be abandoned. ' I hod for some time cherished the notion of dividing the party, leoving four to protect the boat and property, whilst the remainder, with Mr. King, would have accompanied mo on a land journey towards Point Turnagai.- ; but this scheme was completely frustrated by the ininracticability of carrying any weight on a soil in which at every step we sunk half- leg deep, destitute of shrubs or moss for fuel, and almost without water, over which we must have travelled for days to have made even a few miles of longitude; and where, finally, if sickness had overtaken any one, his fate would have been inevitable. Thus cir- cumstanced, therefore, and reflecting on the lon^ and dangerous stream, combming all the bad features of the worst rivers in 'he country that we had to retrace, the hazards of the falls and mpids, and the slender hope which remained of our attaining one mile farther, I assembled the men, and Informed them that the period fixed upon by his Ma- jesty's government for my return had arrived ; and that it new only remained to unfurl the Uritish flag, and salute it with three cheers in honor of his Most Gracious Majesty, whilst his royal name should be given to this por- tion of America by the appellation of " Wil- liam the Fourth's Land." The appeal was heartily responded to, and the loyal service was performed with the cheering accompani- ment of a good glass of grog.' Cape Richardson, the extreme point seen to the northward, is in lat. 68° 46' N., long. 96° 20' W. ; Ross's Obelisk in lat. 69° HI' N., long. 99° T V/. The bearing therefore of the second from the first is N. 52'^ W., distance eighty-six English miles ; and the probable narrowest part of the strait, which separates the land called Boothia from the continent of America, between Point Rich- ardson and Cape Smyth, thirty English miles. By observations with good needles, the line of variation taken at Back's exfrome point passes a little to the eastward of Cap- tain James Ross's magnetic pole. The fact of the drift-wood at this point of North America establishes, we think beyond a doubt, the continuity of the coast from tho moutli of Mackenzie s River, and of the current by which alone it could have been 160 Back's Journey to the Arctic Sea. April, 183B. broup'' ; it also proves the existence of a ! Bay or Ciiesferfield Inlet. The whole tract chani '■ . 3tween the northern coast of was utter desolation ; now and then a solita- Americi . .ind the spot where Captain James ry white wolf, a wounded deer, or a musk- Ross erected his obelisk ; and this receives ox, might be seen sauntering near the bank a further confirmation from the immense of the river; even the mosquitos and the field of ice which broke away to the west- ^ sand-flies were either dead or had buried ward, where there must have been an themselves till the resurrection to a new life open channel to receive it. Tiie water and the following spring ; the berries had not ice, and the grey sky to the N.E., pointed ripened, but were hanging green on the directly to Ihe strait of the Fury and Hecla, i bushes. For thirty-six days they had tug- indicating an approach to the perpetual cur- 1 ged their boat against the stream or over the rent which sets through that strait, and which ' portages, making the average about fourteen can only proceed from the western sea, there miles a. day, when, on the 20th September, being none in Prince Regent's Inlet to the i they fell in with Mr. M'Leod, at Sand-hill northward of that strait. The clear sea to Bav, at the head of Ayliner Lake, where he the eastward of Cape Hay proved the cor-| had been waiting for them four days. The rcctness of the Esquimaux information, and , descent from hence to Fort Reliance occu- was, in all probability, connected with anoth-| pied only a few days ; but die day previous er estuary falling into Prince Regent's Inlet, j to their arrival they found it impossible to at the bottom of which may ')e the mouth of i get their boat over the portage of Anderson's another river, running behind the mountains F"all's, and were comj)elled to leave it bo- ])araliel to Backs River; and here will no 'hind. doubt be found the place mentioned by the I At a short distance from Fort Reliance, Esquimaux to Parry, and subsequently to and near to the mouth of the river which dis. Ross, under the name of Accolec, supposed to be not more than forty or fifty miles from the head of Wager Bay. We have considered the drift-wood to be, as Captain Back does, decisive of the eon-i mendous waterfall, the description of which charges the waters of the chain of largo lakes — the Ayliner, the Clinton-Golden, and the Artillery — into the Great Slave Lake, is one of the grandest objects in nature, a trc- tinviance of the current from the westward, because by no other possible means could it have reached the point where it was found. The last remains of anything like wood. we must leave to Back ' From the only point at which the (greater part of it was visible, we could distinguish the river coming sharp round a rock, and stunted firs and bushes, were seen in lati-' falling into an upper basin almost concealed tude 63° 15' N. on the banks of the southern I ^y intervening rocks : whence it broke in one waters, or those which flowed into the Great! y"'''^''*'.'-'^.'"*"" chasm between four and five Slave Lake ; not a stick of any description •»""'1[C'1,*^«' deep, yet m appearance so nar- ' , , , ■' » r»' , , row that we fancied we could almost step was seen on the whole extent of Back s across it. Out of this the spray rose in misty River; and Dr. Richardson observes ' that columns several hundred feet above our none of the rivers on this part of the coast! heads; but as it was impossible to see the (the eastward of Hearno's River) bring down main (all from the side on which we were, in any drift-timber.' The eastern side of Ameri- 1 the following spring 1 paid a second visit to my . ca, through which Back's River flows, is ' '*' appi-oaching from the western hank. The composed of mountainous ridges of granite, I "■""'' '" "• '"^'I'r^ } ^^"^ t^versed m snovij u J 1 . • ".1 1 L ',sho(!s, was fatiguine n\ the extreme, and porphyry, and slaty gneiss, with sandy bar- scarcely less dangerous; for, to say nothing reus strewed over with large granite boul- 1 of the steep ascents, fissures in the rocks, and ders. How diirerent is the western coast of deep snow in the valleys, wc had sometimes Norway, where forests of firs and birches to creep along the narrow shelves of preci ate found growing as high up as the 70th parallel of latitude ! It will not be necessary for us to notice the laborious exertions of the party on their return. If they were severe on their de- scent of this impetuous river, how much more so must have been the ascent against the general current, the rnjiids and the port- ages, with increasing cold and stormy weath- er. At Garry's Lake lliey encountered a party of Esquimaux, which might amount to sixty persons, but they were shy, and no communication was lad wit!i them ; they were supposed to luue come from Wiiger pices, slippery with the frozen mist that fell on them. But it was a sight which well re- paid any risk. My first impression was of a strong resemblance to an iceberg in Smeer- enberg Harbor, Spitzbergen. The whole face o." the rocks forming the chasm was en- tirely coated with blue, green, and white ice, in thousimds of pendent icicles; and there were, moreover, cav(!rns, fissures, and over* hanging I'ulges in all imaginable varieties of form, so curious and beautiful as to surpass anything of which I had ever heard or read. The immediate approaches were extremely hazardous, nor could we obtain a perfect view of tlie lower fall, in consequence of the pro- jection of the west ■•n cliffs. At the lowest I April, whole tract icn a solita- or a musk- ir the bank OS and the had buried ;o a new life ies had not een on the ey hc-d tug- or over the out fourteen September, at Sand-hill e, where he days. The iance occu- ay previous npossible to ' Anderson's cave it bo- rt Reliance, ;r which dis- lin of large Golden, and ive Lake, is ature, a Irc- jn of which 1 the (greater 1 distinguish a rock, and St concealed broke in one four and five ance so nar- alrnost step •ose in misty above our (3 to see the 1 we were, in cond visit to hank. The sed in snow streme, and say nothing le rocks, and d sometimes ^es of preci- nist that fell iich well re- ion was of a g in Smeer- The whole asm was cn- id white ice, ; and there s, and over- I varieties of ,s to surpass ard or read. c extremely perfect view ) of the pro. t the lowest 1836. Back's Journey lo (he Arctic fiea. 161 position which we were able to attain, we were still more than a hundred feet above the level of the bed of the river beneath ; and this, instead of being narrow enough to step across, as it had seemed from the opposite heights, was found to be at least two hundred feel wide. • The color of the water vuried from p. very light to a very dark green ; and the spray, which spread a dimncos above, was thrown up in clouds of light grey. Niagara, Wilber- force's Falls in Hood's River, the falls of Ka- kabikka near Lake Superior, the Swiss or Italian falls, — although they may each "charm the eye with dread," are not to be compared to this for splendor or effect, h was the most imposing spectacle I had ever witnessed ; and, as its berg-like appearance brought to mind associations of another scene, I bestowed upon it the name of our celebrated navigator. Sir Edward Parry, and called it Parry's Falls.'— p. ^l— 453. Among the many beautiful prints which decorate this work, we .should have been glad of those best acquainted with ^'hat has been done -and what still remain-, 'o be done. Thrue letters, one from Sir .lohn Barrow, the Picsident, a second from Dr. Richardson, and a third from Sir John Franklin, have been printed, and copies of them are now be- fore us. Sir John Barrow seta out by staling that the honrr which England has acquired amonn the continental nations of Europe by her successful exertions in extending our knowledge of the globe, both by sea and land, has very naturally created in the public mind an ardent desire that further endea- vors should be made to complete what has been left unfinished. He .states his opinion that the practicability of a northwest passage, after the experience that has been acquired, will .scarcely admit of a doubt ; — that Eng- land would be held altogether inexcusable were she to suffer any other nation, by her own indifference to rob her of all her previ- to see one of this extraordinary cascade, but |ous discoveries, by passing through the door the continued volume of spraj% which con cealed the water, like that of an Iceland gey- vser, the difficulty of getting to any .spot whence a view of the whole could be com- prehended, and the horrible staie of the weather, rendered it impossible to obtain any which she had herself opened; — that the honor would descend upon him who first stepped over the thrcshhold, and not on him who led the way to it ; just as Vasco de Gama has run away with tha honor of having disco* vered the Cape of Good Mope, which had intelligible sketch of it. From this cataract, | been passed ten years before by Bartholo- however, we may obtain a rough estimate of 1 mew Diaz. He observes, that this is a (jues- llie whole fall of Back's River. Taking tion which has never been lost sight of by Lake Aylmcr at 600 feet, which is as nearly ithe government ; that it was the favorite oh- as may be on the same level as Sussex Lake, ject of Elizabeth; that it has met with en- ihe source of the Back, and Slave Lake at icouragoment from almost every succeeding sovereign ; that rewards have been otFered by Parliament for its completion ; and, in a word, that it has become distinctly and une- quivocally a national object. lie tells us 200 feet above the level of the sea (as esti- mated on a former expedition), ihe whole full of the Back, from Su.ssex Lake to the sea, will be 800 feet ; and taking the length of the river at 020 linglish miles, the ave- [there is at the Russian settlement close rage full will be 1.3 feel per mile. Behring's Strait a bold, intelligent, and enit.- We must not close the book without onco prising governor (the Baron Wrangel), whoso more expressing our high opinion of its gc- I mind is turned (o geographical discovery, neral interest — as depicting artlessly and un- j who has passed fifty-eight days on the Arctic consciously the noble mind and character yf Siberian Sea, and has two corvettes on his its author. It is needless, after the extracts 'station — and that there is eveiy reason to we have given, to add that the narrative is ' believe he waits only the consent of his go- <-leariy and yigomusly penned. As a lite. | vernment to try his fortune on an enterprise, would confer on iiis a rary composition, indeed, it may perhaps rank higher than any tbrmer volume of tlvat valuable library which we owe to the Marino Worthies engaged in tlie Northern expedi. tions. Whether it be owing to the return of Back, ^or ths fitting-out of ships of \, r to proceed ' in search of the unfortunate whalers, the pub. ho mind has again been turned wilh conside- rable zeal to the subject of northern gcogra. phy and the northwest passoge. Numerous propositions having been made to the Royal .._ „..j, -.,, _ Geographical Society on the subject, they heavy ice grounding on the coasts,, especially • appointed a committee to collect the opinions 'on those of narrow straits, into which it has * VOL. I.VI. 21 the success of whicii name immortal honor. The water communication between the Atlantic and Pacific being fully established, the President goes on to ex|)lain the cau.scs of the failures that have hitherto occurred. lie says, the attempts can only be considered as experimental ; that the proper route was unknown ; that to pass the winter in the frozen ocean was new ; that it was thcreforo quite natural to cling to .some shore — and that henct originated the failures; tlu.t the r 102 Back's Journey to the Arctic Sea. Aprili 1830. been drifted, not only endangered the safety of the ships, one of which was totally wrecked, a second nearly su, and a tiiird abandoned — but, after being shut up for nine or ten months of the year, any attempt to make progress the second season was utterly para- lyzed. He therefore recommends that king's ships, properly strengthened, should avoid the straits and shores, and keep to the broad and open sea, wholly free of ice in summer, and but partially covered in winter ; he instances the Granville Bay whaler, as being shut up and drifted in the ice six hundred miles, without any material injury — and argues that a king's ship has therefore little to apprehend if so shut up. He next asks, ' Where is this open sea to be found V and answers the f|uestion by referring to the accounts given by Franklin, Richardson, J-jlson (the master of Beechej's ship) and Captain James Ross. From these it appears, that along th'^ whole coast of America no land was seen to the northward, that the sea was mostly free from ice, and that the few small detached masses offered no obstruction to the navigation even of the Ivscpiimaux canoes. Captain James Ross proceeded along the western coast of what has been improperly called Boothia (for Parry had discovered and wintered upon it), first lO the northward, where he fixed the place of the n agnetic pole, and then to the southward, where he erected his obelisk ; but in no part of his journey did ho see any land to the westward, nor any impediment to the navi- gation of that sea : this ofliceralso states his opinioi. that this west coast trends northerly to Cape Walker, where Parry has described a wide o[)ening to the southward. Sir John therefore concludes, and we think reasonably enough, 'that between the coast of America and the northern ishinds (Melville and others) there is a broad open sea, o[)en enough for a ship of war to make her way through it.' As it has been proved that no dilliculty ex- ists in the passage through Lancaster Sound and Barrow's Strait, that open sea, it may be presumed, is easily attainable ; ' and in such case,' says the President, ' I do not think it too much to express a liojie tlint the passage (the northwest) would be accomplisiied, and jjcrhaps in one year.' The other two [lapers are purely geo- graphical. Or. Richardson reconnneads that an expedition shouhl be sent over the same ground already traversed, to take up its winter quarters at the eastern end of Great Bear Laku; that from hence it should com[)lete the survey of tin; coast to the west- ward of the Mackenzie River, and after tiiat to the eastward of Point Turnagain. lie then lays down the plan to be pursued, the number of men and boats to be employed, and cuts out work enough for at least a three years' expedition. He admits, however, that the eastern portion tails under the plan of Sir John Franklin, and that no better plan could be suggested. This plan of Sir John Franklin is as fol- lows : — that a ship, or two small vessels, with two boats, be sent to Wager River, which he supposes cannot be more than forty miles from the extremity of Piince Re- gent's Inlet > each boat to carry eight per. , sons, with two months' provisions : the one to be employed in tracing the coast west- ward towards the part reached by Captain Back, and thence onwards to Point Turn- again : the other to follow the east shore of Prince Regent's Inlet, up to the Strait of lleclaand Fury. He lays down the detail of the plan for regulating the proceedings of the two parties, and their return to the shi|) or ships ill Wnger Bay, He recommends Captain James Ross and Captain Back as the most proper ollicers for carrying his plan into execution ; and adds, ' in case of either of them not being at hand when the expedition ought to sail, I should feel the greatest pleasure in filling his place,' Since ■'.is, however, Sir John Franklin has ohtain- eil a more eligible ein|)loymciit, and a will- deserved reward of his noble career, in the appointment of governor of Van Dieman's Laud, Ca[)tain Beaufort, the masterly hydrogra- [iher of the Admiralty, appears to have been called in to pronounce an opinion on the above plans. He commences by observing that 'every year seems to bring forward some accession of interest to the great <|ues- tion of the north-west passage, and of the' northern configuration of America,' Ho says ' that there is an open and, at times, a navigable sea passage between the Straits of Davis and Beiiriiig th(!re 'un he no dotihl in the mind of any person who has duly weigli- va\ the eviilence ; and it is equally certain that it would be an intolerable disgrace to this coimtry were the flag of any other na tionto lie borne through it before our own ;' that hi; is satisfied that the mode pr.)posed by Sir John Barrow is the most prudent that could be adopted ; that the easier;! attempt by Capo Horn, advocated by som;, would be- highly imiuudent, for reasons wl'ich he states: but he thinks the tieographical So- ciety should recommend to his Majesty's government a humble and more temporary field of action, more appio[)riate to tlie na- ture of the institution, more easy and econo- mical in its execution, and iiioio certain aud rapid in its result; that to fix the proper moment for efl'ecting tho ambitioui object of Aprili l)c employed, t least a throe however, that r the plan of 10 bettor plan kliii is as fuU niiUl vessels, Vii^cr River, more than of Pilnce Re- rry eight pur- ions ; the one coast west- L'd by Captain ) Point Turn. cast shore of the Strait of )wn the rictail iroccedings of rn to the shi[) rccotnnu.'iids )tain Back as currying his Is, ' ill case of land when the lould feel the aco.' Since lin has otitain- it, and a wdl- carccr, in the Van Dicmun's jrly hydrogra- s til have been ipinion on the s by oiiserving bring forward the great (|ues. 1,'c, and of the' Viiierica.' He nid, at times, a ■II the Straits of Itc no doubl in las duly weigh- eiinally certain ble disgrace to any other na fore our own ;' ido proposed by at pradent that iaster;i attempt y soim, would isons wl'ich he L'ographicil So- liis Majesty's nore temporary iate to the na- ;asy and econo- loro certain aud fix the proper liitioui object of 1836. Notes. 163 the north-west passage is solely the duty of government, and the resulting credit, both at home and throughout the world, ought to be solely theirs. He therefore recommends the Society to endeavor to prevail with the gov missioncr had — most probably owing to the hastiness of his interview with an invalid — unfortunately mistaken the purport of the communication made to him. As to the matter of fact itself, if he really was alluded ernment to fit out a small exiicdition this to, the reverend gentleman's solemn state. summer for Wager Bay, according to the ment is conclusive, general plan of Sir John Franklin ; and that it should leave England in May. This recommendation, conveyed by a de- putation of the Council of the Society, has, we understand been farorably received by the two departments concerned — the Colo- nial Oflicc and the Admiralty. As regards NOTE. OnNo. CIX., p. 32. We arc informed that the Marquess of Westmeath thinks himself entitled to com- the present year, it is obviou% too late to I plain of the passage in this-' page, where wo make preparations for the grand object of ; had occasion to introduce an allusion to his accomplishing the north-west passage. But lordshiji's evidence before the commissioneis we do confidently trust it will not be aban- for inquiry into thn condition of the poorer doned, and that the plan and route pointed classes in Ireland. Lord Westmeath must out by the President of the Geographical j have misunderstood the passage in question. Society, and sanctioned liy the approbation \ We impugned his lordsiiip's doctrine ttiat 'a of Captain Beaufort, will be adopted, and , poor law can in no sua pi; be levied in Ire. brought to a successful issue. i land without an atiocous violation of the lights of properly' — and we put an hypothe- tical case in order to a[)ply to that doctrine the logical argument called the reductio ad ahsurdum. We had not the remotest inten- tion of so far overstepping oi^r jurisdiction NOTE. ^^ ''^ expn^ss any opinion concerning the no- ,^ »T ri»TT A .■ 1 /r' r L ni ■, »' blo marquess's private character as a land- On No. CVI. — Article ' English Chanty. > , ^ ' ^ Wf, have received a letter from a clergy- man who supposes himself to be alluded T in this article, which, on his partial re- , very from a long and severe illness, had been put in his hands by his friends. The reverend gentleman states that Mho words and sentiments imputed to him in that passage convey a charge contradicted by NOTE. On No. CIX. p. 87, Article 'Life of Lord Exmouth,' That excellent work, the ' United Service his whole ministerial life — an; opposed to Journal,' calls our notice to the omissi'j.i of facts in the parish, which hi is in a conditioiv th" name of Lieut. -General Sir Hudson to [irove — and attribute to him language ■ Lowe, who certainly ought to have bei^n whieh he unhesitatingly asserts, and under- mentioned as the able coadjutor of the lato takes to declare on oath if necessary, he Lord Exmouth in the deliverance of Mar- never used.' Wc arc very sorry for it, if seilles from the threatened violences of Mar- any such misrepresentation has occurred ; slial Hrune, and as having equally partici- but we believe the author of the article on paled in the honorable acknowledgement of ' English Charity' quoted the tpsissima rrrba ' that city's gratitude. The omission was en- of a r(!port sent to the New Poor I^aw tirely accidental : there is no case in which Board by one of their assistant-commission- we should have been more unwilling to ex- ers. VVeconchido, therefore, that if our cor- hibit the slightest disrespect than in that of respondent bo right in taking to his own pa- the worst used public servant of this age, rish the case alluded to, the nssistant-com- Sir Hudson Lowe.