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" Though the sound of fame Maj for a moment soothe, it cannot slake The fever of vain longing, and the name So honour'd, but assumes a stronger, bitterer claim.' ^' Childeffarold. LONDON: RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET, ^ubltnl^er tn #r)rtnaty to fler jHaletlt^. r 1845. i I*' FS9SY s s4 S i m p ion f^ 139883 V*v- m LONDON: Printed by S. & J. Bbmtlet, Wilson, and Flbv, Bangor House, Shoe Lane. x'REFACE. The brief sketch of my brother's life which circumstances, explained in subsequent pages, enabled me to publish a ong with his own narrative of Arctic Discoveries, was generally considered as but a meagre deelopment of the history of one, "in whom the world lost no common man." A naturally strong desire to present a more extended view of his character, his virtues, and his services, has led me to become I may more properly say the compiler than the Author of the following volume, which I submit to the public with a trembling anxiety, lest the in- trinsic worth of my subject and materials should suffer depreciation from my inadequacy to the duty which I have undertaken. A. S. Ross-shire, April 1845. I'ff .U-=f 0* J i . '■( K ! til 'x TL f^: ii,.nft;^!-r: ii^'r>4*- =_^_.. J CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Birth and Parentage. — Descent from Lord President Forbes. — The Laird of Gruinard and his Lady. — Early Character, Habits, and Training. . . PAUK CHAPTER n. Studies for Four Winters at King's College, Aber- deen. — Description of the Mode of Living there: its advantages. — Advice to other Students. — Carries oflF the first Prize at Conclusion of his Studies. — Youthful Habits, Tastes, and Opinions. . . . . 11 , ; CHAPTER in. : Addresses to his Fellow-Students. " On the Break- ing up of his first Session at the University." — " On the Advantages to be derived from the S.n ly of Meta- physics." ..... 23 CHAPTER IV. Connexion with the Governor of Hudson's Bay. — His Career. — Refuses in 1825, and consents in 1828 to go to Hudson's Bay. — Reasons for abandoning Study for the Church, and for going to America, detailed in a Letter to his eldest Brother. — Occupations, Summer 1828. — Letter to the Author. — Sails for America. 44 VI CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. Arrival in America. — Travels during Summer 1829. — Light Canoea. — Canadian Voyageurs : their Habits and Songs. — A Winter in Canada. — L* Ame de Glace. — Journey to the North-west. — A troublesome Charge. — Extracts from Letters to the Author. — A plecnant Residence. ..... PA OK 57 w CHAPTER VL A Winter Journey of seven hundred Miles. — Life in the Woods. — Red River Colony. — Letter to the Author on the Death of our eldest Brother. — Sketches of Character. . . . . . 71 CHAPTER VH. Description of Red River Colony.— Author. ■ Letters to the 85 95 CHAPTER Vm. Extracts from Letters to the Author. — Difficulties with Half-breed Natives. — Intercourse with the Author. — Captain Back's Arctic Expedition. CHAPTER IX. Progress of Exploration of the Northern Parts of America. — Summary of Journeys to the Arctic Coast of America, viz., Hearne's to the Mouth of the Coppermine River. — Mackenzie's Descent to the Arctic Ocean. — Franklin's First Expedition. — Franklin's Second Expedi- tion. — Ross's Expedition to Prince Regent's Inlet — Back's Expedition in Search of Ross. — Back's intended Survey from Wager River — King's contemplated Expe- dition. — What had been done, and what remained to be done. . . . . . * 10!) CONTENTS. vU CHAPTER X. I'An's 331 3 m ny. of >ns 345 n- w, P- to 374 397 403 '■"O-'r ^MMMV-^^S %««ff%^a •vtMi%^t3%M M\ ^ "^^jtrvmifMrj imnt' -t iwr " a i ^ ^ f ' 1 ■ agMt«. ? & - ; : a3^s rt^im.ii« -ii'. <:. -,:i ! 'vJ ;'. ' I' ■ .l;4i>r?.;.,K THE LIFE AND TRAVELS OF THOMAS SIMPSON. ':,-■' I ^ J : J CHAPTER I. , i :> Birth and Parentage. — Descent from Lord President Forbes. — The Laird of Gruinard and his Lady. — Early Character, Habits, and Training. * , ' ~ Alexander Simpson — the father of him whose Life and Travels it will be to me " a labour of love " to narrate in the following pages — was the second son of a tenant farmer in Aberdeenshire ; and was born at New Craig, in that county, in the year 1751. Having acquired a fair share of the education which the parochial schools of Scotland so cheaply afford, he entered, in the year 1768, on the usual course of study for pro- bationers of the Kirk of Scotland, at King's College, Aberdeen — the same venerable and use- B \ .¥' / <4 ^^B-I^^'"**'' /' / , , ('. Dund, / / v^ ll' '•yy vB*^ est l^/jH.' J'"-,(^« '^M' /;s/ tke Country ^orrtii of ATHABIWSCA LAKE, - "North Airier*""'"*"'™*""^ 0- - .u^T'^t — ^ — ^'^'C'^ •^•./^ Traversed. Iry ik£ dxfferenJbAretic Expeditions, L-Ll II 1 , 1 = EnqHshMCUs (v' '■/ '•'Vv. 1^' ^.itk«t"io|| AWjii-cJuinneJ ,^ B arani '5 ^^ \ • Sf^*- Lo-ndon. H-ichaTA IjoncLon. Uicha-ra Bentley. 18*5 LIFE AND TRAVELS 01' fill institution at which his son prosecuted his studies nearly sixty years afterwards. Having passed the allotted term of four years in those studies, he was obliged to provide for his support by the labours of tuition : and these became his permanent occupation ; for, although he meditated, long after he commenced them, an entrance into the ministry, he never accom- plished his purpose ; and finally settled down as master of the parochial school of the little burgh of Dingwall, in Ross-shire. In 1784 he married the daughter of a respect- able farmer in Inverness-shire, where he had for some time resided. By her he had several children ; none of whom survived through child- hood, except two sons ; John, who died in 1813, a lieutenant in the 78th regiment, and jEmilius, a lieutenant in the royal navy, — to whom I shall hereafter advert, — who died in 1831. His first wife dying in 1792, he remained a widower for upwards of fifteen years ; during fourteen of which, he often afterwards avowed, that he daily prayed to God to give him Mary Simpson (our mother) for his wife. At length his prayer was granted ; his suit successful. She still lives ; and has attained the age of seventy-six, with unimpaired faculties. A sound constitution, and good spirits, but, above all, ft. THOMAS SIMPSON. d a profound reliance on the unerring wisdom of the decrees of Providence, have carried her through an affliction, the extent and severity of whicli can only be known to one " who has been in bitterness for her first-born." Her father was the Reverend Thomas Simpson, for many years clergyman of the parish of Avoch, in Ross-shire. The stipend of Avoch was then a poor one ; the manse ruinous ; and the means of local education for his children very defective. He had opportunities of bettering his position by a translation to another parish ; but he declined leaving his old and attached flock. "They had accepted him (he said) as their pastor : he had promised to be their spiritual shepherd ; and no worldly motives would induce him to break this sacred tie." With — as we may judge from this sacrifice — much of the singlemindedness of the worthy " Vicar of Wakefield," he did not accord with his views of the duty of monogamy for the clergy. ' • ' . ..i.: His second wife (our grandmother) was a des- cendant of Duncan Forbes, the celebrated Lord President of the Court of Session, — in this wise : — The astute lawyer and sagacious statesman, — to whom Protestantism and the House of Bruns- wick owed so much, — was, " in his days of youth- B 2 1^ n 4 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF ful prime," to the full as reckless and dissipated as young lawyers were [are ?] prone to be. There was "A maid, whose folly did confide ' In him who made her not his bride." A daughter was the result of this illicit con- nexion. The mother was of good family : the affair was kept secret, and she afterwards married a North Country Laird. The daughter grew up a very beautiful woman ; and her father bestowed on her every advantage of education, training and introduction into society, that his wealth and high position could command. Before she had completed her eighteenth year, she singled out, from among her numerous suitors, the Laird of Gruinard, a scion of the noble house of Seaforth. The laird was, " by 'r lady, inclining to three- score," a widower, and the father of twenty children by his first wife ; but he was still a hale, handsome, gay and gallant highlander, and Miss Forbes overlooked or forgot the disparity of years. She accompanied him to his estate, in the wildest and most remote district of Ross- shire ; was the happy mother of twelve children,* * Our grandmother was one of these. Of the thirty-two children who blessed the household of the Laird of Gruinard, twenty-nine or thirty grew up to maturity. I was present, in 1822, at the interment of the last of them, Mrs. Mackenzie THOMAS SIMPSON, 5 and accommodated herself admirably to the posi- tion in which she was placed. Forgetting the gaieties of Edinburgh, she devoted herself heart and soul to the duties of her new and embarras- sing situation ; was a kind and dutiful step- mother to her husband's first numerous family; acquired in a short time the language, and became acquainted with the character, habits, and feelings of his tenantry, and was one of the first to expound to them the Scriptures in their native language : Gaelic Bibles were unknown in these days in the wilds of Lochbroom. I love to dwell on the character of the " Lady of Gruinard;" I see in it many points of resemblance, in its energy, its enthusiasm, and self-devotion, to that of him whose labours I am to chronicle. The marriage of our parents took place in 1807. On the 2nd July 1808, Thomas, the subject of this Memoir, was born ; followed, nearly three years after by the writer, the youngest and now the only survivor of his father's family. of Hilton, who died at the good ripe age of ninety-six. The descendants of this patriarchal family are, it will easily be believed, very numerous ; and they were long tacitly permitted a singular immunity^ now happily falling into desuetude and oblivion. If any of them committed a breach of the seventh commandment, people shrugged their shoulders and said, " 'Tis no wonder — he 's one of the Gruinards." I G LIFE AND TRAVELS OF i Our father's position, as schoolmaster of the little Burgh, did not prevent his taking an active share in its local government; for upwards of thirty years he was a member of its corporation, and was frequently its principal resident magis- trate (Bailie). The prevailing politics of the county and burgh were strongly tory; yet he was ever a staunch whig of the old school, i. e., he considered that the powers of government (national and local) should be exercised for the benefit of the manyy but vested in the hands oii\\e few. t • His income, from his school and other employ- ments, was very limited; yet he was ever kind and hospitable, particularly to young men who were struggling, as he himself had struggled, not only for the means of support, but also of preparation for the office of the ministry; an office which is filled in Scotland, perhaps, oftener than in any other country in the world, by persons born among the class of handicraftsmen and peasants. He was, indeed, a very Nathaniel, a man without guile. , , , . " He had a tear for pity, and a hand i ^ Open as day for melting charity." A true and sincere Christian, he was utterly devoid of sourness and illiberality ; he blamed THOMAS SIMPSON. 7 no man for his creed ; but inculcated in the minds of his children the belief, that the all- seeing God is also just and beneficent, and that he will judge his creatures solely by the use which they have made of the faculties, talents, and opportunities, given to them. With his children his intercourse was most endearing. Harshness or severity he never showed ; but instilled his precepts by mild ad- monitions and by entertaining illustrations. I yet remember many incidents connected with this delightful and most profitable intercouse. On my brother's mind, from his more advanced years, it must have made a deeper impression, and, doubtless, had much influence in the forma- tion of his character. ^ ^ Our father died in 1821. His income was too small to have allowed his laying up any store; and the only provision for his family was an annuity to our mother of twenty-five pounds, in that excellent institution " The Schoolmasters' Widows' Fund," which he secured by annual life payments. Our brother ^milius generously joined his lieutenant's half- pay to his step- mother's slender provision ; and cheerfully took a share of the little cottage which she occupied. He was, as this noble action shows, a man of warm affections ; but the exclusion, caused by 8 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF ii i the want of interest, from active employment in the service (the naval) which he idolized, and other disappointments, had soured his temper ; he Mas naturally irascible, and a strong admirer of what is known by men-of- wars-men as " tight discipline ; " tlie exercise of which had long a de- pressing eftect on my brother's mind. The child is not always father to the man. The enthusiastic and energetic traveller, whose physical conformation set fatigue and i)rivation at defiance, whoso courage and enthusiasm en- abled him to bring to a successful completion the arduous expedition which he himself had planned — a success which made him only de- sirous of entering on renewed labours — was, in childhood and early youth, weak and sickly in physical, and timid in mental constitution, l He had early shown a strong tendency to consumption, to guard against which required, for several years, much care and assiduous at- tention to his clothing and diet : and, instead of his character being marked by the youthful recklessness which might naturally be supposed to have been the foreshadowing of his subse- quent well-regulated daring, he was singular for a want of interest in the games common among boys — for an unwillingness to join in their rougher sports, and for a hesitation in enter- THOMAS SIMPSON. 9 ing upon any exorciHo or amusement that couM in the least expose him to personal danger. For instance, although most of his school-fellows were bold and expert swimmers, he had not sufficient self-confidence, while a boy, to acquire any pro- ficiency in that useful art ; and, even in man- hood, when fearlessly exposing himself to tlio hazards of the impetuous rapids of the Copper- mine, and the imminent dangers of Arctic navi- gation, he had acquired but little skill in it. During childhood and boyhood he was distin- guished by a quiet docile temper, habits of strict order and method, and by a steady constant at- tention to his studies, rather than by any re- markable quickness in mastering them. The better part of these characteristics remained with him during his too short career ; but his intellect was rapidly strengthened and sharpened by emu- lation and contact with other minds; while his spirit cast off the timidity which weighed it down, as his body cast off its youthful infirmities. Even from childhood there was a strong feel- ing of enthusiasm, almost amounting to romance, governing him. His mind was not more bent in youth on the acquisition of university honours, than it was in childhood on the ])roper manage- ment of the little square of flower garden, which his father considerately apportioned as his own, 10 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF *• whereof ho might make a kirk or a mill."* lie was not more earnest, in his early manhood, in his search after the north-west passage, than ho was in boyhood in his endeavours to win the smiles of his dancing-school partner. Byron's passion, while yet in " shorts," for his Aberdeen playmate, has been thought to be, in some degree, a creation of his imagination. I can still recollect the pains, tho tribulations, and the anxieties caused to my brother, by his love for a little missie not yet in her teens. An aspiration after the noble and the gene- rous also arose early in his mind, and it grew with his growth and strengthened with his strength. A favourite and often repeated quota- tion from Horace was " Odi profanum vtdgm et arceo." In repeating this to me, who then, as now, " knew small Latin and no Greek," he al- ways explained that the poet's meaning and his own implied only a contempt for the low pur- suits, sordid desires, and grovelling habits of the vulgar herd, not a hatred of his fellow-men of any class or degree. * The Scottish phrase for the Duke of Newcastle's apho- rism — " I can do what I like with my own." THOMAS SIMPSON. n CHAPTER II. Studies for Four Winters at King's College, Aberdeen. — Description of the Mode of Living there : its advantages. — Advice to other Students. — Carries off the first Prize at conclusion of his Studies. — Youthful Ilubits, Tastes, and Opinions. With such youthful characteristics as those which I have described (characteristics coinciding in a remarkable degree with those which be- longed to the boyhood of Bruce, the Abyssinian traveller), it will appear natural that my brother should have excited much interest, and raised sanguine expectations of his future success, in every one connected or acquainted with him. The sphere chosen as that for which he sliould be educated and trained was the Kirk of Scot- land. We shall in the sequel find his own feelings and opinions in regard to this choice candidly explained. In pursuance of this scheme of education, ho was sent in the autumn of 1824 to King's Col- lege, Aberdeen. 12 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF t Before describing his progress at this northern institution, it will be interesting, as affording an insight into the system of education and course of life of students there, to peruse a Memorandum on the subject, which he himself drew up in 1829, for the information of a friend who was anxious to select a fit place for the education of younger brothers. " Of the various Scotch universities, that which I consider the most eligible for completing a young man's education is the * King's College ' of Aberdeen. This opinion is not the effect of prejudice, but is founded upon various considera- tions, the most important of which are the fol- lowing : — " 1st. The strict surveillance which the Pro- fessors have over both the public and private conduct of the young men under their charge. In point of numbers, indeed, this university ranks second only to that of Edinburgh ; but the college being situated in what is called the * Old Town,' a small place at the distance of a mile from the city, the lodgings of the students are necessarily condensed within a very small compass, affording the Professors an opportunity of knowing the young men individually, and of observing their behaviour and character. No inij)ro})riety or irregularity can, therefore, escape THOMAS SIMPSON. 13 observation ; whereas, the other universities (with the exception of St. Andrew's, which is a great resort for young men of rank and fortune) being situated amid large and populous cities, the young men are scattered in every direction, un- known to their teachers save by name, under little controul, and exposed to many temptations. " 2nd. The admirable method now jjursued at this university, where, besides a variety of eX' aminations which ensure application and afford ample room for the display of merit, there are a great number of prizes given annually in every class ; and at a public competition which takes place a week before the meeting of college, there are a number of bursaries from twenty pounds per annum, (^. e. for the four years,) downwards, awarded to the best writers of the Latin lan- guage ; and I have known many young men support themselves in this way without costing their friends a shilling. "3rd. The economy in the mode of living at this university. Aberdeen, from local causes, is generally allowed to be one of the cheapest places in Scotland. The usual, and unquestion- ably the best, way for going to work is this : — Two young men club together to take, say a small sitting-room and bed closet, or more fre- quently only a good bedroom, at a certain set 14 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF rent; the landlady procures all kinds of stores, provisions, &c., for which they reimburse her "weekly ; while for cooking, washing, &;c., there are regular charges ; so that, after the first week, the whole is plain sailing. By this means the whole average expense for the winter does not exceed from twenty to twenty-five pounds ; and I should consider thirty pounds per session as a very handsome allowance. "See the following abstract, the charges in which are stated at considerably beyond the average. } /. s. d. 2 2 2 2 ** Lodgings per Session, divided between two, 4 ) guineas ,.....' Cooking, brushing shoes, and washing for 21 weeks, at 2s. per week Expense of board per week each, 7s. , College fees at an average .... Books and stationery .... A suit of Clothes ..... Pocket money ..... * While recommending this limit, he " Did not, as some ungracious pastors do, Show us the steep and thorny way to heaven. Whilst, like a pufTd and reckless libertine, Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads, And recks not his own read." • , for I have before me a record of his own sessional expenses* 7 7 5 5 2 2 7 4 2 £30 0* THOMAS SIMPSON. 15 «T The course of study is as follows : — *^ First year. — 1, Greek; 2, Latin. " Second year, — 1, Mathematics ; 2, Natural History and Chemistry ; 3, Greek ; 4, Latin. " Third year 1, Natural Philosophy and higher Mathematics ; 2, Greek ; 3, Latin. ^'Fourth year. — 1, Moral Philosophy and Logic ; 2, Greek ; 3, Latin. "If these observations from one who speaks from experience be sufficient to induce you to send your brothers to this university, I have only two advices to give them, viz., to keep clear of bad company ; and to make a point of perform- ing every exercise themselves, without trusting, in any shape, to the assistance of others." Different, indeed, the life and habits of the and I find them respectively to amount to 23/. 155. 9^?., 28/. 9.V. \d., 251. Is. Gd., 28/. 2s. 2d. " 'Tis sixty years since," explains many things ; his father's expenses at the same uni- versity, of which I have no less correct a record, never ex- ceeded the sum of ten pound per annum. The following is an abstract of my brother's expenses from 1st November, 1824, to 1st April, 1825. Travelling expenses to and from Aberdeen Board, lodging, coal, and candle Clothing, including college gown . College fees, books and stationery Washing, postages, and amusements -* /. s. d. 3 7 4 8 1 1 8 3 G 2 17 3 1 6 7 £23 15 9 IG LIFE AND TRAVELS OF self-denying Aberdeen student, into which this paper gives no little insight, from those of the gay under-graduates of the lordly universities of Cambridge and Oxford, of whose studies a recent grave Mentor,* describes the geological riding lectures of Buckland and Sedgwick to be a strictly regular portion ; while he rates the con- cert, the ball, the cricket-match, the boat-race, the flower-show, the private luncheon party, and the public dinner, as agreeable interruptions to the routine of academic studies ; nay, from whom the ^* pink'' hunting-coat peeping out from under the college-gown, horn-blowing, and tandem-driv- ing draw forth no very stern rebuke ! Many a parent's aching heart would be com- forted ! many a family's ruin averted ! many a young man, whose energies have been prostrated, and joys embittered by the incubus of debts incurred while keeping up to the usual mark of college life, would have ran a course of prosperous and happy exertion, (! — ) were the ordinary expenses at Oxford and Cambridge but tenfold the amount which my brother points out as the mad'imum necessary at the northern abna inater, to which he owed his own education and training. * See an elaborate article in The Quarterly Review for December, 1843, which attracted much attention, and excited much discussion. THOMAS SIMPSON. 17 My brother, on joining the university, was a competitor for the bursaries, to which he alludes in the foregoing paper : he obtained one, though of the lowest class ; yet even this was of advan- tage to him, as it diminished the amount of his college fees — bursars having a right to certain deductions from the usual scale. He was, from his first entrance, extremely attentive to all his studies : and the exertion necessary to enable him to keep pace with his fellow-students in classical acquirements, for which he had no strong natural bent, had a most beneficial effect in calling forth his latent energies of mind. This, again, reacted on his bodily frame. He returned from his winter studies quite a new being ; his mind aroused to a consciousness of its strength, his spirits exu- berant, and his bodily frame already showing indications of the muscular symmetry which marked his manhood. A summer ramble among the wild hills of Lochbroom clenched this auspici- ous change. His next session at the university tended still more to expand his character. The main branch of this winter's study was mathematics, for which his mind had a particular bias : and in it he out-stripped all his fellow-students. His earnest application to this study may be judged from a ,lf:l 18 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 'i 1 31 fact communicated to me by his chmi, that eacli morning^ ere he retired to rest, his room was thronged by his class-fellows, who, after a night of slumber, came to him to beg or borrow his solution of the Professor's puzzling problems, which (as we have seen he recommended to others) he, himself, never omitted working out. He also took a prominent part in the debat- ing society, established by the students among themselves, and was the recognized leader of the highland party of his class — between which, and the lowland section, the " Saxons," there existed no little jealousy. His own descent was, un- doubtedly, almost exclusively from those Saxons ; and, although born within sight of Ben Nevis, the hugest of Scottish mountains, he spoke but little, and that very imperfect, Gaelic ; yet he had a keen feeling for the scenery of his native district ; and, in his addresses before the society, he fre- quently made triumphant comparisons between the proud feelings instilled into the mind of a highlander by a constant contemplation of the grand and romantic scenery of the mountains, and the plodding stolidity of .the inhabitants of the lowlands. Several of these addresses, carefully written out, now lie before me. That I should consider them marked by high merit may be the insult of ■I THOMAS SIMPSON. 19 natural partiality. In the next chapter, I give entire and unaltered, one delivered to his fellow- students on the breaking up of his first session at the university, and another " On the advantages to be derived from the study of Metaphysics," which was delivered, in November 1827, on the opening of the session, during which that science was the particular branch of study. The first is a juvenile performance, but marked by strong characteristic traits ; in the last will be found indications of the concision and simplicity of style, joined to earnest trutlifulness, which so strongly mark his letters and narratives, quoted in the following pages. Duruig the sessions of 1826-27 and 1827-28, he pursued his studies with even increased ardour. In physical sciences he was the facile princeps of his fellow-students ; but in classical acquirements he had one or two equals, if not superiors ; and on their comparative progress in Metaphysical studies (those belonging to the last session) depended the decision of the learned Professors as to the fit recipient of the " Huttonian " prize, the highest reward of literary merit given in the university, being that bestowed on him who has made the greatest proficiency in all the branches of study forming its Curriculum. This distinction was, at the conclusion of his c 2 •IM! ii\ 20 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF Collegiate course, conferred upon him by an una- nimous vote of the Senatus Academicits.* At the same time, he received his degree of " Master of Arts." The session at Aberdeen commences with November, and ends with April. After the breaking up of the classes, it was my brother's annual custom to take a ramble, for five or six weeks, through Aberdeen and Banff Shires, where he had many friends and relatives. To this suc- ceeded two or three months of hard study : and, in the autumn, we visited together an uncle re- siding in Lochbroom, where we spent a happy month in the sports and exercises of that wild and remote highland district. Then, again, came a short interval of study : and it was time for * « King's College, 24th Jan., 1829. "We, the undersigned, hereby certify that Mr. Thomas Simp- son having gained a bursary at the public competition in ses- sion 1824-25, entered the Greek class in said year, and gave regular attendance at this University during that and three subsequent sessions ; that during the whole of his course he was distinguished for good conduct, diligence, and ability ; and that at the close of session 1827-28 he was unanimously declared the successful candidate for the Huttonian Prize, the highest reward of literary merit given in this University. " Hugh Macpherson, Siih-Prefect, " William Paul, Prof, of Nat. Phil, " J. TuLLOCH, Prof, of Math. " Hercules Scott, Phil. Mor, Prof." THOMAS SIMPSON. 21 him to join his classes. This he did with health and spirits, which enabled him to t ss through the winter's hard study, with no more serious result, than that his countenance became some- what " Sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought." My brother's appearance was prepossessing ; his manners engaging ; he was particular to a nicety in his dress — which was always chosen with much taste, and most sedulously taken care of. His spirits were buoyant, and his zest for society keen ; no wonder, then, that he was every where a favourite. Even when most closely attentive to his studies, he mixed a good deal, not only in the limited society of the vene- rable Old Town — consisting principally of the families of the professors — but also in that of the bustling New Town of Aberdeen. He had always a strong penchant for ladies' society ; was a special favourite among them ; and returned this favour by the highest— most romantic — idealization of women. He often told me that he considered a beautiful woman (and he was apt to invest many plain ones with an attribute which did not belong to them) as too ethereal a being to allow of a sensual thought being raised by the contenjplation of her : that it pained him to see such an one M 11 _ 'i I! U 22 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF condescending to the sublunary enjoyments of eat- ing and drinking, still worse of gossiping. The woman of his youthful imaginings would, indeed, have been " too wise and good For human nature's daily food — " and, although an impetuous temperament may, in after life, have made him sometimes to "gang a kenning wrong," in a country where female virtue is almost unknown, he ever nou- rished and retained in his " heart of hearts," the highest opinion of female excellence. A belief in the sublime doctrines of Christian- ity, which was early and carefully instilled into his mind by his revered father, remained ever firm and unshaken: and his humble confidence in the guidance and protection of Providence breathes forth in every letter which he wrote, while engaged in his arduous and perilous jour- neyings. THOMAS SIMP80N. CHAPTER III. Addresses to his Fellow-Students. " On the breaking up of his first Session at the University." — " On the Advantages to be derived from the Study of Metaphysics." On the breaking up of his first session at THE university, MARCH, 1825. " The day of our parting draws on apace ; a l)arting which, to some of us, may perhaps be the last. This, my dear friends, is a melancholy thought ; and at such a time as this it is natural for us to indulge in grief. " Youth is the season when the disposition is frank and open : when the mind is most apt to receive impressions of friendship, and when a parting of this kind will be most deeply felt. It is in youth that friendships are contracted, which time or distance cannot dissolve ; and as a great part of our happiness depends on the connexions which we form with others, it is of high im- portance that we acquire betimes the temper and the manners which will render such connexions endearing. 24 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF I " Let us remember that our characters are just forming ; that our fate is, in a manner, put into our own hands. Our affections are yet vigorous and true ; evil habits and prejudices have not yet established over them a baneful sway ; nor has the world had time to contract and debase the finer emotions of the soul. Whatever im- pulse, therefore, we now give to our desires and passions, the direction is likely to continue, and to form the channel in which our life is to run. * Virtuous youth,' says an eloquent writer, ' gra- dually brings forward accomplished and flourish- ing manhood ; and such manhood passes of itself, without uneasiness, into respectable and tranquil old age. But when Nature is turned out of its regular course, disorder takes place in the moral, just as in the vegetable world. If the spring put forth no blossoms, in the summer there will be no beauty, and in autumn no fruit ; so if youth be trifled away without improvement, manhood will be contemptible, and old age miserable.' Now, therefore, that we are just setting out on the stage of life — before we have committed any fatal or irretrievable errors — what can be of more im- portance to us than to regulate our plan of con- duct with the most serious attention ? Let not the season of youth be with us, barren of the improvement so essential to our happiness and THOMAS SIMPSON. 25 rc8|)cctability in life! If at tliis critical season, when our cliaraetcr is about to receive its stamp, we deliver ourselves up to idleness and slotli, or devote ourselves wholly to the pursuit of pleasure and amusement, what can we expect to follow from such beginnings? "All of us would, doubtless, wish to rise to eminence in the different pursuits and occupa- tions to which our inclinations tend, which our circumstances have suggested, or which our friends have proposed to us ; but the least con- sideration must convince us that, in order to pursue any plan of life, whatever, with advantage, some previous discipline and preparation are in- dispensably necessary. And shall wo attain suc- cess without that preparation, and escape dangers without that caution, which is required of others ? Shall virtue and happiness grow up to us of their own accord, and solicit our acceptance, when to the rest of mankind they are the fruits of long cultivation, and the acquisitions of labour and care? Let us not deceive ourselves with such arrogant hopes ! " * If we look around us in the world,' says another celebrated writer, ' we will see that those who are born with the same advantages are not all equally prosperous in the course of life. While some by wise aud steady conduct attain distinc- 26 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF If* *\ tion in the world, and pass their days with com- fort and honour; others of the same rank, by mean and vicious behaviour, forfeit the advan- tages of their birth, involve themselves in much misery, and end in being a disgrace to their friends, and a burden on society.' " We must, therefore, perceive that whatsoever is to be our profession, virtue is the one thing needful. This is the universal preparation for every character and station in life. Bad as the world is, respect is always paid to virtue. With- out it the brightest parts and the most shining talents are of no avail ; they are but as a tran- sitory meteor, compared v/ith the steady and re- splendent light of the sun in the firmament. Virtue is the true foundation of eminence in every liberal art? and of reputation and honour in every public and private station of life. It is what ennobles the character, and inspires into it generous sentiments, and a spirit undaunted by all the opposition of a wicked world. It makes the possessor of it superior to the changes of fortune ; and enables him to say of her, " * I can enjoy her when she 's kind ; But when she dances in the wind, And shakes her wings, and will not stay, I pufF the prostitute away.' " Wg are all of us, however, setting out in the THOMAS SIMPSON. 27 pursuit of that fortune which the poet valued at so low a rate ; and though virtue renders us superior to her, yet the enjoyment of her is, by no means, incompatible with virtue, but ought, rather, to be considered as one of its rewards. Unless, however, we invest ourselves with all the accoutrements necessary for the chase, for- tune, like the sly fox, will constantly elude our grasp, and disappoint all our endeavours. " What, you will ask, are the accoutrements necessary ? We must take virtue for our coat of mail — a sound judgment for our helmet — un- daunted resolution for our shield ; our weapons must be sagacity and perseverance ; and we must not forget to take with us the mantle of sound phi- losophy, which can only be acquired by assiduous cultivation of our minds in the season of youth. Thus equipped, we may, with God's blessing, as- sure ourselves of success. "The joy we shall experience in again meeting our »*elatives, and the pleasure we shall feel in their society after being so long separated from them — will, soon, make us forget the sorrow we experience at parting with one another. " Should any of this assemblage, before our next meeting, embark on the busy stage of life, may they be an honour to their friends, and a credit to themselves (!) and may those whom a revolving 28 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF m year brings again together to engage in the ])ursuit of learning, meet each other with plea- sure and delight ! " Farewell !" I have placed before the reader the above address, not so much for its intrinsic literary merits, as for the purpose of giving a link in the chain of my brother's singular union of character — enthusiasm joined to caution ; energy to sagacity. It was at sixteen years of age, that he made this address — so full of "gentle sage advices," to his fellow-students. What he inculcated upon others, he did not himself neglect. On the advantages to be derived from the STUDY OF Metaphysics, read before the stu- dents OF King's College, Aberdeen, Novem- ber 1827. " The human Mind is the noblest work of the Almighty Creator, which reason discloses to our view. It is that vital principle, that spark of celestial fire which constitutes our existence, and which will survive not only our mortal bodies, but even the wreck of conflicting elements, and the destruction of universal nature. In its state of primitive purity, the mind was the image of the perfections of its Author, and it still retains sufficient traces of its divine origin to entitle it TTIOMAS SIMPSON. 29 to our deepest and most profound meditation. Accordingly, we find that in every enlightened age, the study of the mind has been regarded as the most important which can engage the attention of man, as a rational or social being. On consulting the records of history, we find, in proportion to their cultivation or neglect of this study, nations emerging out of the dark- ness of ignorance and barbarism, or sinking again into their primitive obscurity. "Hence we are entitled to conclude, that, on the knowledge and improvement of the mental powers, our interests and happiness, no less than our true dignity, essentially depend. The acqui- sition of such knowledge is the great object of moral science, to enumerate a few of the most obvious advantages resulting from which shall form the subject of the following Essay. " In treating this subject, I shall not pre- tend to follow any accurate scientific division, such division being in general very incomplete ; but shall confine myself to some of the most important advantages of Moral Science, in the order in which they most naturally occur. " Moral Science, then, tends in the highest de- gree to the improvement and perfection of our mental powers. By means of these powers its investigations are prosecuted, and these very 30 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF m powei*s form the subject of inquiry. This re- ciprocal advantage is peculiar to the study of the mind, and is the result of its being an ori- ginal and independent science. " All the other arts and sciences have an inti- mate and mutual connexion; the study of the mind is the foundation of them all, and from it they derive their elegance and their utility. Viewed in this light, philosophical inquiries into the mental faculties must afford peculiar interest to every reflecting mind. On the conclusions to which such researches lead, we dwell with a higher degree of satisfaction, when we consider that they result exclusively from the subject itself, and owe their elucidation to no other science. Small, indeed, must the curiosity of that man be, who can content himself with the mere mechanical use of those powers which distinguish him above the lower animals, with- out feeling any inclination to examine the laws which regulate their operations; and thus, as it were, to view the image of the Author of na- ture in the fairest of his works. "Before making any further observations on this head, we may proceed to reply to one or two objections brought forward against the study of the mind. It has been asserted, that this is a subject far removed beyond the limits of the THOMAS SIMPSON. 31 human faculties, and that we can attain to no certain knowledge respecting it. The absurd hypotheses of the school-men, and the abstruse and unintelligible doctrines of many modern philosophers, (who have attempted to veil their own ignorance under the specious cloak of an obscure and technical phraseology,) seem indeed, to justify this opinion; but we must remember that the abuse of any science furnishes no solid argument against its use. The phenomena of the intellectual are no less open to our inspection than those of the material world. They offer a sphere of observation no less fair and extensive. The conclusions are no less certain, since in either sci- ence they are founded on a full and cautious in- ductioa. In both sciences we ascend from particu- lar facts to general principles, called laws of nature, &;c. ; there our investigations must cease. " Our evidence, too, repecting the existence and operations of the mind, is even more certain than that with regard to matter. The former is the result of consciousness, the latter of per- ception. Sensation and perception are, in some degree, common to man with the lower animals : consciousness and reflection are nobler powers, and assign him a more exalted station in the scale of beings. If these powers, then, be con- ferred upon man for such noble ends, shall he 'Ill fit, mm I 32 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF not employ them ? The mind is the only le- gitimate sphere of their operation, the only sub- ject, indeed, to which they can be directed. Hence, it must be evident to every candid mind, that it is the benevolent intention of nature that man should derive a great part of his hap- piness from the cultivation of his mental fa- culties. *The improvement of these powers,' says an elegant writer, * exalts and dignifies our nature ; the neglect keeps us on a level with savages, and almost with the brute creation.' " Thus we have endeavoured to show the in- trinsic utility and dignity of the study of the mind: we may now proceed to consider a few of its most important applications. "The mind, then, as we have already stated, is not only worthy of inquiry on its own account, it is still more so as the foundation of the sci- ences and the fine arts. With the general sci- ence of mind, indeed, all the pursuits of life, whether speculative or practical, are intimately connected. We repeat this because many have imagined that this study has no relation to the common affairs of life. How egregiously such men are mistaken, we hope, shall soon be apparent. It is by a knowledge of the mind, the orator and the statesman rise to eminence, and rule at will the passions or the interests of men. THOMAS SIMPSON. 33 J'1 " This knowledge enables the moralist to eou- vineo man that the path of virtue alone conducts to happiness ; the preacher to inculcate with re- sistless energy the sublime doctrines of religion, to console the afflicted mind, or strike terror into the guilty breast. Hence, too, the poet reaches the secret avenues of the heart, and inspires us with a kindred flame, — the painter adapts the principles of his art to our perceptive powers, and makes the dull canvas glow with all the beauties of external nature. "A knowledge of the mind is also of the utmost service to the medical faculty. The suc- cess of the physician depends not altogether on his treatment of the body in the various dis- orders to which it is subjected ; it also depends in no small degree on his giving lo the imagina- tion such a bent, as to render it subservient to the purpose of recovery. With anatomy and physiology, the science of mind has a close con- nexion. They tend to illustrate each other in several important points, particularly in respect to our sensitive powers; and we may safely venture to affirm, that, without their mutual co- operation, we should for ever remain in ignorance of many useful facts which are now perfectly established. > " Law and jurisprudence, too, in order that the D ••HI 34 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF system may be complete, and productive of sa- lutary effects to society, must be founded on a knowledge of those principles which form the chief ingredients in the mental constitution. " Language is an instrument closely connected with the philosophy of the mind. The more the latter is cultivated, the higher the degree of perfection to which the former attains — to the grammarian, therefore, a knowledge of the mind is of essential importance. It explains many interesting facts connected with his pur- suits, of which, without its aid, he must have remained ignorant, and enables him to view with a more scientific eye the gradual advance of in- tellect through all the various stages of pro- gressive refinement of language. Viewed in this light, the structure of language is one of the most important sources of information to the student of mind, and may be regarded as a mir- ror reflecting a true and accurate picture of national character. " Hence, too, the superior pleasure the moral philosopher derives from the perusal of the an- nals of History, where he sees pourtrayed the events of ancient times, and traces through the obscure and distorted medium of hypocrisy or am- bition those secret yet powerful springs of action which must for ever remain concealed from the 1 :^ THOMAS SIMPSON. 35 less penetrating eye of the careless and super- ficial observer. Such are a few of the most important practical purposes to which moral sci- ence may bo applied. " It has not only, however, been argued against the study of the mind, that it is unconnected with, but also that it unfits man for, the business of common life. It is asserted that the moral philosopher, by excessive attention to the opera- tions of his own mind, becomes gradually alien- ated from the external world, and suffers his imagination to roam uncontrolled through the wide but barren regions of speculation. That such men exist we will not venture to deny; but, surely, the excess to which any study is in some few instances carried, is no solid argu- ment for its rejection. Such examples rather afford a melancholy proof of the fraility of hu- man nature, and the errors into which even men of the loftiest genius are sometimes apt to fall. " Another objection brought forward against the study of the mind, (and the last we shall men- tion,) is, that we do not derive such pleasure from the exercise of our perceptive powers, when we learn to trace them back to their original sources. ' "This objection is equally false and unfounded, i> 2 :!' i 30 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF i^ and could oidy originate with those who are themselves ignorant of this sublime science. An acquaintance with the laws of perception, instead of lessening the delight which we ex- perience in contemplating the gay and varied scenes of nature, contributes in the highest de- gree to heighten and refine it. It opens to our admiring eyes new views of the power and wis- dom of that Almighty Being in every part of whose works the most consummate goodness and perfection are displayed, whose hand main- tains the planets in their orbits, and provides for the wants and necessities, nay, even the pleasures, of his rational and intelligent offspring. "That there are difficulties connected with, and sources of error peculiar to, the study of the mind, we cannot deny. But ought we to de- spair on that account ? Should not such obsta- cles rather inspire us with ^'edoubled ardour to remove or obviate them ? " The mental operations, at first view, appear so numerous tnd complicated as to baffle all our endeavours at classifying or arranging them ; but, upon a more accurate inspection, they are found to result from a comparatively small number of simple and original faculties. Is it not probable, then, that habits of attention will, in like manner, enable us with increasing facility THOMAS SIMPSON. 37 to siirniount all those barriers which might impede our progress into the fair fields of science and philosophy? " In this respect the mind may be compared to a chemist who, from a small number of simple elements, forms that endless variety of com- pounds which are applied to so many and such opposite uses. " To the chemist it is of the last importance to be intimately acquainted with the properties of his various compositions, and to know exactly the number and relative proportions of the simple ingredients which compose them. Is not such knowledge of equal importance to the mind ? and ought we not to use every method by which it can be obtained i " The difficulties may, indeed, be considerable ; but let us remember that proportional to them is the value of the acquisition ; — let us view even these formidable guardians of the portals of philo- sophy without dismay, and press boldly forward into the inmost recesses of the temple of science. " We shall now take a short view of the advantages more immediately resulting from moral science, as applied to the improvement of the intellectual and moral powers, and the formation of philosophical systems of logic and morality. mi Wi i m 38 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF " Logic toadies us the order to he ohserved in the investigation of truth, and the connnunica- tion of it to others. Tn a true and well-digested system of logic consists the perfection of our intellectual powers, and on a knowledge of the mind alone can such a system be justly founded. " Hence the judgment is strengthened ; wo acquire habits of independent thinking, and of close and convincing argumentation; the atten- tion is fixed and made subservient to the purposes of science and philosophy ; in a word the under- standing is confirmed in the habitual exercise of all its native capacities. Logic points out to us the proper objects of philosophical research ; gives us clear and perspicuous ideas respecting them; and assigns the boundary which, in our investigations, we cannot pass, without wandering into a dark and unknown region, where all is doubt and uncertainty, and where dangers sur- round us on every hand. From their erroneous ideas on these points proceeded the vain and futile speculations of philosophers respecting the con- nexion between body and mind, cause and effect ; subjects over which the wisdom of the Deity has drawn a veil impenetrable to mortal eyes. " It is the province of logic too, to determine the real and comparative value of the various sciences, as connected with the improvement THOMAS SIMPSON. '3i) of the mind, or with the practical business of life, — to point out the mode of investigation peculiar to each, and the order which ought to be observed in the gradual development of the intellectual powers ; hence it is of the greatest im- portance to the instructor of youth, and differs as widely from that disputatious art into which it degenerated in the hands of the schoolmen, us the objects of true knowledge differ from those to which they directed their attention. " It is unnecessary to trace the connexion which subsists between morality and the science of mind. " We have already mentioned the importance of this science to the moralist, and we may now add, that the active or moral powers are in tlie highest degree deserving of our attention, as they constitute the great sources of action on the stage of life, and upon their proper cultiva- tion depends the welfare of society. The actions of men, though in some respects they may be considered as the effect of their opinions, and, consequently, of their intellectual powers, are far more generally the effect of their active principles ; from these spring all that variety of moral character, the phenomena resulting from which are continually soliciting our notice. " To man as a social being, therefore, the science i 40 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF I m i -\ 'I i which proposes to itself such objects of investiga- tions must be of the highest importance, and the cultivation of it must be inseparably connected with his best and dearest interests. , > " But the advantages attending moral science are still more striking and important, when viewed with respect to the education of youth. Much has been written on this subject, and various opinions have been expressed regarding it ; all, however, coincide in the general value of the aids it receives from moral science. "We shall confine ourselves to a very few observations. " The great business of education, then, ought to be to cultivate the mental powers in such a manner as to carry them to the highest pitch of perfection of which they are susceptible, — to guard the youthful mind from all erroneous impressions, and to train it in the love of truth and virtue. " There are few men to be found endowed ^vitli good sense and the power of reflection, who are not conscious of very considerable defects in some of their mental powers ; but how few have been able to remedy them ! Such defects arise, not so much from natural constitution, as from some error in education, the principal object of which, in this respect, is to cultivate the various faculties THOMAS SIMPSON. 41 ill unison, to restrain such as are too exuberant, to strengthen those in which there appears to be any deficiency, to assign to each their proper degree of employment, and thus to maintain thi whole intellectual frame in the most perfect state of vigour and of harmony. " From want of attention to this, the most un- fortunate consequences may ensue to the indivi- dual in after life, a fact so well known that illus- tration becomes unnecessary. " An acquaintance with the principles of the mental constitution would not only enable the instructor of youth to maintain that balance in the various faculties which is so essential to happiness ; it would also suggest to him many useful expedients by which these faculties might be severally improved, and would qualify him for assigning the exercises which might prove most conducive to this end, according to the diversity of character and ability of his youthful charge. Such an instructor was Socrates, the most vener- able of the sages of antiquity, who, as history informs us, taught the Athenian youth, not so much by direct precepts, as by a faculty he pos- sessed of leading them gradually by the exercise of their own powers to the truths which ho wished to inculcate. It is an undeniable fact in our con- stitution, that those associations and prejudices i m 42 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF which are formed in childhood can never be totally eradicated; prejudices which, indeed, warp and obscure the judgment, which * have twined their roots with all the essential principles of the human frame.' Reason may indeed, shake them off, but they still retain a secret yet powerful influence over the heart, and hence become the sources of action in those situations where they may be attended with the most pernicious effects. In the years of infancy we repose implicit reliance on our guardians or instructors, and imbibe, with unsuspecting confidence, the precepts which they communicate — a wise provision this of nature, but liable to the most fatal abuses. How often does the child hear from the lips of his parents the praises of wealth and grandeur, as if these were the only essentials to happiness, — a voice far more dangerous and alluring than that of the syrens in the fables of antiquity ! * Ilia vox, quae timebatur erat blanda, non tamen publica : at hajc, quae timenda est, non ex uno scopulo, sed ex omni terrarum parte circumsonat.' ' "A single word of esteem or admiration of riches falling from a father is enough to create a corre- sponding passion for them in his son, a passion which he will find it almost impossible to efface. In the language of Seneca, * Admirationem nobis parentes auri argentique fecerunt, et tenuis THOMAS SIMPSON. 43 iiifusa ciipklitas altius sedit crevitque nobis- cum.' "If impressions, then, be bo easily received, of what vast importance is it that they should be engaged on the side of truth and virtue, which alone can guide us with safety and honour through all the varied scenes of life, and at last conduct us into a blissful immortality ! Such is the great and ultimate end of moral science. By an exten- sive acquaintance with human nature, indeed, men of vigorous minds are sometimes enabled to form an accurate estimate of their oAvn acquire- ments, and thus, in some measure, to correct or supply their defects ; but to what pain and labour <^oes not this subject them, and of what infinite value must such an education be, as would obviate the necessity of spending a whole life- time in unlearning the errors of our youth, and enable us to press forward with unimpeded flight in the pursuit of truth, till at length we attain to the ultimate perfection of our nature ! " From these and innumerable other advan- tages, we might fondly hope that, were the science of mind universally understood and applied to practice. Society would assume a more perfect form, and realize the happy illusions of the classic poets respecting the golden age. "Thomas Simpson." m 44 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF CHAPTER IV. Connexion with the Governor of Hudson's Bay.— His Career. — Refuses in 1825, and consents in 18^8 to go to Hudson's Bay. — Reasons for abandoning Study for the Church, and for going to America, detailed in a Letter to his eldest Bro- ther. — Occupations, Summer 1828. — Letter to the Author. — Sails for America. Sir George Simpson, the local-governor of the Hudson's Bay Company's Territories, is the illegitimate son of our mother's eldest brother. To our mother he owed not only much of his early education, but also his elevation from the position of obscurity and neglect in which his birth naturally placed him. By assiduous entreaty she prevailed upon her brother, a gentleman in London engaged in the West India Trade, to receive the youth into his counting-house. Once there his advance was rapid, for he was clever, active, plausible, and full of animal spirits. In this employment he attracted the notice of an influential gentleman, who had a business connexion with the house. This was Mr. Andrew Col vile, brother-in-law I TllOMxVS SIMPSON. 45 of tlie Earl of Selkirk, a nobleman who bad, strangely, identified bimself with the affairs of the Hudson's Bay Company, taking a prominent part in the rivalry which, for several years, was carried on between that chartered company, and the active and energetic, though unchartered, North-West Company of Canada. This rivalry caused some scenes of bloodshed ; but was more prolific of " monster prosecutions," which, at the time, excited as much interest in Canada, as did the recent state trials in Ire- land. It was truly described in an act of the Imperial Parliament, as, " having been for some years past productive of great inconvenience and loss, not only to the said company and associa- tion, but to the trade in general ; and also of great injury to the native Indians, and of other persons subjects to his Majesty ; and the ani- mosity and feuds arising from such competition, have also for some years past kept the interior of America to the northward and westward of the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, and of the territories of the United States of Ame- rica, in a state of constant disturbance ; and many breaches of the peace extending to the loss of lives, and considerable destruction of property, have continually occurred therein." George Simpson was sent out to America to i] i 40 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF ■I k take a sliare in this troublous contest; but, shortly after his arrival, a coalition of the con- tending parties took place. The capitalists of the North- West Company, whose resources and credit were well-nigh exhausted by the huge expenses, (particularly for legal processes,) to which this rivalry exposed them, yet succeed- ed in making an arrangement with their char- tered opponents, by which they retained one- half of the capital stock of the United Asso- ciation, and secured more than half of the offices in America for their resident associates. Mr. Simpson was immediately named as re- sident-governor of one of the divisions of the coun- try thus restored to harmony ; and he exhibited so much address and activity in this office, (fa- vourable accidents also occurring,) that, a few years afterwards, he was appointed governor of the whole of the Company's possessions in America, an office which he still continues to hold. , In 1825, he came to Britain; and, in visiting his aunt at Dingwall, he was so much struck with the manner, appearance, and general cha- racter of my brother, then returned from his first year's attendance at the University, that he earnestly pressed him to go to America as his (the governor's) secretary. v THOMAS SIMPSON. 47 This offer was declined; but proposals made to my eldest brother, (no relative, but a school- fellow of Sir George's,) to proceed to America as superintendent of the Hudson's Bay Company's Marine department on the Pacific, were accept- ed, and he proceeded to America in 1826. Alas ! the disappointments, privations, annoyances, and anxieties which he encountered in this office, resulted in his death in 1831. "^he writer, also, was so lured by the highly coloured descriptions of adventure to be encountered, and wealth to be won, in this ungenial region, that he became two years afterwards (1828) an emigrant to it. After fourteen years' bitter experience of its cares and crosses, he relinquished all connexion with it. What were the feelings and opinions, in regard to the service which he embraced, of our more gifted and distinguished brother, will be gathered in the sequel from his own words. In 1828, the offers which he had refused in 1825 were again pressed upon him, — now with success. In the following letter addressed to his eldest brother, he candidly states the reasons which led to this acceptance. It is dated from Norway House in the Hudson Bay Territories, 29 June, 1829: " You will no doubt be surprised to find me addressing you from this place, unless, perhaps, 48 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF ti I the Governor informed you, during his visit to the Columbia last winter, of the probability of my joining him here this season. " The reasons which led to this determination on my part, none have a better right to know than you, my dear iEmilius, who, while they were fatherless and unprotected, acted more than a fraternal part toward two boys who then knew not how to estimate such kindness. " Shortly after entering the University, when I began to reflect on choosing some future line of life, of the three learned professions that which tallied most with my own inclinations, and for which I conceived myself best adapted, was the medical. This idea I quietly entertained for about two years, being too much occupied with my studies and amusements to trouble myself much on the subject ; when finding that, from my silence, my friends took it tacitly for granted that I was rearing for the church, I thought it time to suggest that my own sentiments led to a different direction. A medical education is, however, an expensive one ; and I was soon convinced from the total want of the needful in the family, that it would be imprudent to cherish these views any longer. I, therefore, made up my mind, though with some reluctance, to com- ply with the wishes of my family, and "follow THOMAS SIMPSON. 49 the church." To the study of divinity, indeed, [ had only two objections, but they were serious ones. "First, an extreme diffidence in my own re- ligious qualifications ; and " Second, a deficiency in the Gaelic language, which left me but little chance of obtaining a living in that part of the country where I could chiefly expect the exertion of influence in my behalf. " If to these you add a strong antipathy to the very idea of becoming a tutor in a family, which would necessarily be my lot for some years; and, with all, a little of the spirit of contradiction, and an unwillingness to be led, the ranks of opposition were pretty strong. Hav- ing, however, partly surmounted, partly evaded these formidable obstacles — the life of a clergy- man, his opportunities of doing good, together with the domestic quiet and happiness he may enjoy, were prospects to which I looked forward with feelings certainly of a very pleasing de- scription. - " I was now preparing to take out my degrees, winter 1827-28, when, just after A lie, who spent a happy week with me on his way to London, had left me as I almost felt alone in the world, I received a letter from my uncle, stating that E I t^1 50 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF in a recent communication from America, tlie Governor had expressed a regret that I was not coming out that season; but that, if I would still be induced to accept the offers he had made me three years before, I might join him about the time I am now addressing you. The idea of pushing my fortune in America I had long forgotten ; but now that my studies at college were about drawing to a close, I thought it high time to consult with my friends upon the matter. This I did at first by letter from Aber- deen, and personally on ray return. I found but one opinion among them, viz., that from the prospects held out, it would be at best imprudent in me to decline the generous proposals. In this opinion the worthy parson of Knock bain* — to whose, I may say, paternal kindness, I am under the deepest obligations — fully concurred ; de- siring me to keep this in view, that if, upon trial, the country, &c., did not agree with me» I might still return to the old world, and pursue my studies as if nothing had happened. " His advice was sensible ; and you know how * The Rev. Roderick M'^Kenzie, for more than half a century clergyman of the parish of Knockbain in Ross-shire ; he married a sister of the elder Charles Grant, and was, in benevolence and hospitality, the very model of a parish mi- nister. L ■: { "■ i .\ :i . ;r . ' «. THOMAS SIMPSON. 51 difficult a thing it is for n young man, when his friends are bent on a particular object, to resist the torrent. " All these considerations, (for the old objec- tions to the Church, though I overcame them separately, now revived and acted as principal auxiliaries,) combined with a strong though hi- therto latent desire to travel, have induced me to take a step which, be it for my good or for my ill, has cast my lot, for some years at least, in the wilds of the New World." He continues : "The terms of my engagement, after some correspondence with the Directors through the medium of uncle Geddes were, at length, settled. They are favourable, for I enter on exactly the same footing, in every respect, as if I were in the last two years of my apprenticeship ; (i. e.) I am only bound for two years, with the last two years' salary;" which salary was fixed at the sum of 40/. sterling for the first year, and 50/. for the second year. It will be, naturally and justly, supposed that expectations of rapid promotion and handsome emolument must have been held out to induce a young man of my brother's character, talents, and acquirements, to accept this paltry pittance. That these expectations were to be fallacious ; K 2 52 LIFE AND TRAVELS OK that his situation and treatment were of a very different nature from his anticipations, he very soon discovered. But he also soon foresaw that, whenever the Governorship of the country be- came vacant, he himself would be the person best adapted to fill it ; and that he would obtain this appointment seemed to be tacitly allowed by all parties. He did not foresee that a path could be found in the same country, by which a much higher distinction could be attained. Attained it was, but at what a price ! An appointment of high promise, pressed upon a young man in his twenty-first year, would gene- rally have the effect of causing him to devote the few antecedent months to idleness and amusement : not so with my brother. He passed the summer in attendance at the office of the county clerk in his native town, with the view of acquiring habits of business, devoting a part of each day to the study of mineralogy and botany. The following is a letter addressed by him to me (then in Canada) during this interval. "Dingwall, Sept. 30, 1828. " My dearest Brother, " I have assumed this page of our mother's letter, thougb I have little wherewith to fill it ; and, though you are still my debtor for an epistle, THOMAS SIMPSON. 63 the reply to which I, however, exi)ect to receive ere this reaches the western shores of the At- lantic. " r have, since I last addressed you, been a regular attendant at Mr. 11. J. Cameron's office, and flatter myself I have acquired some ideas of busint'ss that may be of service to mo. " Your hours of writing at Lachine must be very irksome ; T should not exactly relish such confinement by way of a fir t trial. 1 pm de- lighted to find that, notwithstanding Fuch disci- ])line, you enjoy good health anvl h'^h spirits. Your Highland fraternity wili, no uoubt, i^eep you all alive and happy. " Our glens and our mountains. ( Ijough but as rat-holes and mole-hills in c wipaiison with those of America, have this summer j)resented a scene of unusual beauty ; and we Dingwall bloods have at last been intrepid enough to storm the heights of Ben Nevis. We mustered eight in number (exclusive of two men whom we hired to carry the prog), viz., Bailie Donald Stewart, Dr. Wood, (sirnu;/). d Don Miguel, and whom we had to transport part of the wav in a basket after we had consumed its contents,) Roderick Hay, tw William Rosses, George Mackintosh, C. Stewart, and myself. A merry group we were, with plenty of music, vivers, i I 54 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF I and aqua vUcb. The view from the beacon point (on which we dined) was truly grand, including an infinity of hills, lakes, and rivers, which lay seemingly at our feet — the wide expanse of the German Ocean — a peep of the North Sea ^ond John-o'-Groat's, and of the Atlantic. Often amid the general merriment, as my eye wandered almost unconsciously to gaze on the distant verge of the Atlantic, did I wish you were with us ; but then the mortifying idea occurred, what would an inhabitant of the New World think even of this? Pray, my dearest Alic, do in your next give a somewhat more circumstantial and detailed account of some of the more re- markable features in your mode of life, and of the scenery of the country in which you live : e. g., what sort of a house you have ? what kind of vehicles you have to carry you to Montreal? and what society does that city afford? — its appearance — the breadth of the St. Lawrence, he. But I weary you, as you delight not in long-winded descriptions. "There is but little local news ^^yond the narrow range of our gossip circle to communi- cate — perhaps none deserving of a passage across the Atlantic. Still, if I can furnish you with any that will amuse but for a moment, the smile they call forth will be an abundant recompense. THOMAS SIMPSON. 55 " Hugh Cameron, my ' interim magister,' has turned banker, which swells his income to up- wards of a thousand a-year ! So much for good abilities and address ; pretty fair, no doubt, for remaining in one's native place. He now treats with madeira and claret ; not superior in flavour, I'd venture to say, to your Canadian. But, though our " glass of fashion," he has not as yet had, nor is likely in a hurry to have, many followers in his matrimonial career. In fact, the matrimonial bubble, which produced so much excitement on the surface of our * petit mondey has, after all, quietly subsided into the old level of celibacy — or, if you will, of bachelors and old maids. I wish you saw Miss H : she told me t' other day, with one of her ini- mitable airs, as I was escorting a certain young lady, that * Miss had more beaux than she had.' " Mr. G is quite well ; but the dapper little gentleman is in no fiurry to get buckled (coupled if ye will) : I suppose he'd first wish a snug stipend tagged to his tail. Poor black John, the nabob's man. kicked on Saturday ; our mountain dew was too potent for his sunburnt brain : he died a martyr to his spiritual zeal. His master was affected even unto tears ; but the old sinner can't yet think of parting with his mistress. 56 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF " There is no other local news here worth repeating ; but that our beautiful strath has been very gay this season with the Davidsons and visitors at the Spa, &c. All friends here are well, and desire to be kindly remembered : and, in hopes of soon hearing from you, I remain, my dearest Alic, " Your ever affectionate brother, " Thomas Simpson." In pursuance of the engagement with the Hud ion's Bay Company already adverted to, my brother left Ross-shire in January, 1829. But, profiting by his reverend friend's counsel — that it might possibly be advisable for him to return to Scotland, and resume his preparation for the ministry — he remained a short time in Aberdeen^ and attended the classes prescribed to students for the ministry. Happy, indeed, would it have been had he finally devoted himself to that sacred office, for the duties of which his zeal, energy, and self- devotion so well qualified him; while, for its quiet enjoyments, his love of study and warm domestic aifections were peculiarly adapted ! From Aberdeen he proceeded to London, where he spent several weeks; and sailed from Liverpool for New York on the .3rd March, 1829. THOMAS SIMPSON. 57 n Arrival in America. — Travels during Summer, 1829. — Light Canoes.— Canadian Voyageurs : their Habits and Songs. — A Winter in Canada. — L'Ame de Glace. — Journey to the North-west. — A troublesome Charge. — Extracts from Let- ters to the Author. — A pleasant Residence. My brother arrived at Lachine, — a small village near the city of Montreal at which the Company's Canadian business is conducted, — on the 25th April 1829, and I had for three days the satisfac- tion of again associating with him, — my station being at that place. He left it on the 30th April with the annual spring party, which proceeds from Canada to the Hudson's Bay Territories. Unfortunately the three officers who were his fellow-travellers in the journey, were not fair specimens of the officers of the association. They were reckless, intemperate men, and their pro- ceedings on the journey were of the most dis- orderly description. My brother, not being one of " those faultless CHAPTER V. I 58 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF monsters whom the world ne'er saw," enjoyed this rattling, rolicking mode of travelling, judging, of course, that it formed part of "/e/e in Hudson's Bay." But on a strict investigation being subse- quently made into these scenes of disorder, it could not be asserted that he had ever been in the slighest degree intoxicated ; strict sobriety was a habit from which he never swerved. This investigation dissipated his misaj)prehen- sion regarding the manner of life in the country which he had adopted. On the 18th June, he joined Governor Simpson at Norway House, and immediately entered upon the duties of his secre- tary and amanuensis, accompanying him in a tour which he made through the south eastern part of the Hudson's Bay Territory. Towards the latter end of August they reached Lachine ; and I again enjoyed for a lengthened period, the society of my brother. He arrived in high health and spirits, quite delighted with the journey, which had been per- formed in a light canoe — that most exciting mode of voyaging — in which the traveller is hurried on, without the slightest exertion or fatigue on his own part, over every impediment, at the utmost speed which nine pairs of strong arms, kept in exercise for an almost incredible portion of each day by a liberal internal application of rum, by an occa- H THOMAS SIMPSON. 59 sional outward application of " a bit of oak," can impart to the graceful and buoyant north •5^ canoe. Talk of factory labour, and ten hours' bills ! why a genuine light canoe-man of the old school was always ready for his work twenty hours out of the twenty-four. And a gay and merry race they were, these Canadian voyageurs, even under this excessive toil ! Wherever they went, they gaily sang their voyageur songs. These have often mixed with the wild cries of the savages of Missouri and Ohio: the St. Lawrence, Ottawa, and each Canadian river, were, for many long years, navigated only by the happy race who carolled them forth: they lightened the labours of the adventurous rovers who first penetrated into the "Indian Territory," and pushed their way even to the Pacific Ocean and the Arctic Sea. The race is now all but extinct. Their songs, in a few years, will be forgotten : nor will I maintain that they were much worthy of pre- servation either for their music or their words. Yet many an hour have I listened to them with * The canoes are built of thin cedar laths, covered over with the tough bark of the birch-tree. They are so light, that one which conveys twelve or fourteen people, with luggage, &c., on long journeys, is carried past the rapids, or falls, and frequently across several miles of country, by two men. 60 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF pleasure ; and " La Belle Rose "* yet, would sound sweeter to my ear, — albeit it were struck up by a rough voice, and responded to by a rougher chorus, — than the strains of Grisi, — nay, of the sweet singer of mine own North Country, Wilson. Governor Simpson made a matrimonial visit to England in 1829-30, and during his absence my brother formed one of the establishment in the Canada agency. * Every Englishman is supposed to be able to join in " God save the Queen I " so every Canadian voyageur can swell, with his sweet voice, the chorus of " La Belle Hose ;" and, in con- sequence, it is generally selected to give ^clat to the departure and arrival of the few bark canoes which still, once a- year, start from Canada for the North-west. " La Belle Rose " is a virtuous young lady, described by the voyaging troubadour as magnanimously declining naughty offers made to her, though they were backed by a settlement of "sia; cens francs par un," expressing her rejection thus : " Je ne couche point avec un homme Hors qu'il m'epouse auparavant." Admirable, indeed, is the resolution declared by this damsel (would that all damsels would observe it); and, to respect such a resolution, every good and true voyageur was bound by a solemn oath, which he took on passing the Rubicon — the point any progress beyond which made him a true " homme du nord — " possessed of an indisputable right to look with contempt ou "^es Mangeurs de lard" (pork-eaters) of his native parishes. This Rubicon, by-the-bye, often shifted its position, at each change being placed farther from the voyageur's centre of i; THOMAS SIMPSON. ei He was a scholar and a gentleman, and this was sufficient to ensure him every kind of oppres- sion and annoyance, which could safely be prac- tised, from the person who held supremacy there. " Lame de glace" was the name given by the Canadians to this frozen martinet ; and well did he merit it. To cast my brother into the shade ; to sneer at his pretensions (albeit, they were not intruded) ; to enforce such excessive hours of business as were alike destructive of health and pleasure ; and, to utterly exclude him from the society of the civilisation — Montreal. It was at a little lake, named the " Committee's punch-bowl," situated at the summit of a pass in the Rocky Mountains, its waters running into the Arctic Sea from the eastern end, and into the Pacific Ocean from the western, that I took a solemn vow, — " De ne jamais coucher avec la femme ou la fille d'un voyageur — sans qii'elle veut" The music of a large number of the voyageur songs was noted, and published recently by Sir George Buck; a few of them have been adapted to quadrilles, and are (or were) fashionable in Canada. The words are generally silly, and often indecent; indeed, I hardly know one that would bear printing — either sense or decency would be wanting. They bear intrinsic evidence of ancient composition ; i. e. by the first French emigrants to Canada^ for French cities are fre- quently mentioned, while Canadian towns are seldom named. Some hundred years hence they will be eagerly sought by Canadian antiquaries, who will discover sense in them, as other antiquaries have done, in strains equally trivial. if I, '.■Ml j?1 m :1i 62 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF neighbouring city, for which he was so well fitted, constituted the delight of this person ! And, great as is my admiration of the extremes of fortitude and perseverance which my brother exhibited in his three years' travels in the Arctic region, I must confess that, to my mind, they appear less extraordinary than the patience and coolness, with which a man, so young, so gifted, so ardent, and so sensitive, endured this trying ordeal. Even his stout constitution began to give way under it ; and as he grasped my hand on parting with me in April, he said, " thank God I am getting away, for I couldn't have stood another week of it." The party which annually leaves Canada for the Indian Territories, is composed, principally of young men who have been engaged by re- cruiting agents during the previous winter. The North-West Company, which had much popu- larity among the French Canadians, always had a selection from the elite of the youth of the parishes of the Montreal district. It gave high wages to its servants, supplied them, to an extent sufficient for an economical man, with clotliing, &c., gratis ; foreseeing that, while a few of its servants would confine themselves to these sup- plies, — thereby lay by their annual wages, and thus return to Canada with wealth sufficient to •:>* li THOMAS SIMPSON. 68 settle down as tlic rich men and heroes of their native parish (a bait to induce others to follow the same course) — the great majority would, with the characteristic imprudence of their class, re- quire supplies of clothing for themselves and also for their women (whom they changed frequently). For those articles they paid such enormous prices that the balance struck between the amount of their wages and of their supplies, frequently left them debtors at the year's end. While it was no unusual thing to see voyageurs of the old school returning to Canada with savings to the amount of five hundred, and even a thousand pounds, there were many of them whose debts to their employers exceeded three years' wages. In the Hudson's Bay Company's service the system is very different. The wages given are low; seventeen pounds sterling per ann., being the standard for labouring men. No clothing is allowed to them gratis ; but they can purchase their supplies from the Company's stores at very moderate prices. This, of course, places it out of the power of any servant to amass large savings. The employment also is quite altered. Under the old regime the establishments were large ; where many Canadians are congregated together there will ever be much gaiety and amusement : and the service generally consisted of a hard canoe ■i ' 1. 'I I ii 64 LIFE AND TRAVKLS OF ■' :( II paddle for twoortliree months in summer, during which there was abundance of excitement to lighten the toil ; the winter bringing a few weeks' trial of strength and skill in wood-cutting, vjiried by an occasional journey, in which the qualities of their respective teams of dogs could be tested. Now the winter is passed in one unvarying round of monotonous labour by the few men scattered at the different posts ; while the season of open water is entirely occupied by continual and ex- hausting toil in slow-moving boats. No wonder that the gay Canadians of the old voyagour parishes of Sorel, Maskinonge, and Yamaska, dislike the new system, and decline to take service under it. The Canadians who now engage, are generally somewhat of the same class as were those with whom filled Falstaff up his redoubt- able regiment. They obtain a few months' wages in advance — and that is their sole object, which, being accomplished, a considerable number never think of appearing at the point of embarkation ; while of those who actually do take their depar- ture in the northward bound brigade, many are in a similar condition to young Master Laun- celot.* — " A fiend at their elbows continually * •' The fiend is at mine elbow and tempts me, saying to me, ' Gobbo, Launcelot Gobbo, good Launcelot, or good Gobbo, or good Launcelot Gobbo, use your legs — take the *«! THOMAS SIMPSON. 65 urging, *' use your legs, take the start, run away." And as they pass for a fortnight through a country which affords them numerous oi)i)ortunities of putting the fiend's advice into execution, the management of such a party requires no little tact. ^Fy brother had this charge on leaving Canada, in April 1830, and conducted his party, consisting of nearly a hundred persons, with much celerity and with less loss by desertion than was usual, to Lake Superior. Beyond this the route lay through the unsettled wilderness, where it re- quired no conscience to tell the young recruits to " scorn running with their heels : '* the most courageous fiend would have had difficulty in saying where they could run to. " You have been in Paradise so far, now you '11 be in purga- tory," is the consolation they receive from the old hands when they are thus placed beyond the bounds of civilization. At Lake Superior my brother was, therefore, freed from this troublesome charge; and joined the start — run away.' My conscience says * no I take heed, honest Launcelot — take heed, honest Gobbo, or, as aforesaid, take heed, honest Launcelot Gobbo ; do not run ; scorn running with thy heels.' Well — the most courageous fiend bids me pack : * Via 1 ' says the fiend ; * away ! ' says the fiend ; * for the heavens rouse up a brave mind,' s.'\y8 the fiend, * and run.' — Merchant of Venice. m ii'- 1 1 it« i!^-^ 00 LIFE AND TRAVELS 01-' I' .-*. !' . light canoes which conveyed GovciTi«»t Simpson, his young wife, and several officers « I i;I y Com- pany. Proceeding along the usual channel of inland communication, they reached York factory, on Hudson's Bay, on the 27th of June. The light canoe voyage, and the system of all work and no play (still less pleasure) during a summer residence at that place, are concisely de- scribed in the following extract from my brother's letter to me : " On the morning of the 21st of May I embarked in C. F. Christie's canoe, the Governor and his Lady being in company ; spent a day at Fort William where we took two handsome north canoes (the most delightful of all conveyances), — each nine men. After many accidents from the high waters, in one of which Mr. Christie and I filled our canoe to the gunwales, in the river Savanna or Embai-ras, which obliged us all to en- camp for half a day in a swamp during a strong frost — we arrived at Bas de la Riviere on the 5th of June. The Governor and Lady started the same evening for Red River, and Mr. Christie and I spent that and the following day with C. F. John Stuart; then continued on for Norway House, where, after very stormy weather in Lake Winipeg, we arrived on the 11th, and found we were only preceded by Mr. Miles, who had arrived in a THOMAS SIMPSON. 07 light oanoo from York Factory at eleven o'clock the night before. On the 14th, the Governor and Lady, C. F. Finlayson, &c., arrived in two canoes from lied River, and remained till the 22nd ; during which time many of the brigades from the interior made their appeaiance, and were despatched to York Factory without delay. On the evening of the 2l8t, six north canoes arrived with the recruits, &c., from Canada, and a few minutes after twelve (a.m. 22nd) we started for York in two canoes, the party consisting of the Governor and Lady, C. F. Lewes, C. T. Miles and I ; Mr. Christie who is a])pointed to this place, and Mr. Finlayson having gone down some days before. We had a very merry descent, if you except a day and a half degraded^''' in Knee Lake, — during which we had the honour of erect- ing and engraving a superb May-pole to Mrs. Simp- son;! ^^^ after fine running of rapids in Hill River, &c., arrived here before day-break on the morning of the 27th, ?'. e., in five days (including one day t * A voyageiir expression, meaning detained by wind or weather. + Mrs. (now Lady) Simpson was also our cousin. She was but eighteen when she married, and undertook the long journey, which was followed by a three years' residence in a distant and savage region. Her prepossessing appearance and manners made her an object of much interest among its few civilized (or, more properly, demi-civilized,) residents. F 2 C8 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF ti' and a half stopped by weather) — a distance of four hundred miles ; having come from Little Jack River the previous morning, 26th, a distance of one hundred and fifty measured miles without resting once. " The despatches are just closed (31st of July), and I have at length a moment to myself, which has not been the case for upwards of a month past, during which T have had little time for sleep, and none for exercise. Indeed, exer- cise is almost a thing out of the question here in the summer season, even were there time for it ; as the country round the Factory, though elevated above the river, is one entire swamp, covered with low stunted pine, and perfectly impenetrable at this season, even were it free of the clouds of mosquitos by which it is infested. In fact, the land seems from its quality to have been thrown up by the sea, and it is never thawed to any great depth even by the hottest summer. The myriads of mosquitos which it gives birth to are quite indescribable. The soil is never thawed by the sun's rays to the depth of more than ten or twelve inches ; below, is a solid bed of frozen earth, while the upper covering affected })y the sun's rays is of the consistence of clammy mud, through which the foot sinks at every step : even in the centre of the Factory, it is necessary f f THOMAS SIMPSON. G9 HJ i*-! . to keep on the wooden platforms to avoid sink- ing over the ankles. " We have had some very hot weather during this month, the thermometer for several days ranging in the shade between 90° and 100°, and on one occasion I observed it as high as 99^; but the weather is extremely changeable, and a night or two after, the thermometer was as low as 29° : transitions from 90° to 40° T ob- served in several instances in the course of an hour, merely by a change of wind ; and the sudden torrents of rain which frequently come from the bay would astonish you : in short, it is altogether a horrible climate, and the gloomy sternness of the winter, which rules two-thirds of the year, is not likely to improve the scene." In this pleasant place he passed the remaindei. of the year, " in order," so he expresses it, '* to get an insight into the accounts, which, like everything else about the establishment, are in the highest order :" he continues, " And we are certainly very comfortable, — excellent accommodation and the best of fare, viz., venison (our staple dish), fish, hams, geese, buffalo tongues, soups, vegetables grown in hur- dles laid out on the frozen earth, and then covered with soil — pastry, preserves, kc. ; forbye excellent wines and famous porter." Snug quar- !* 70 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF ters these, so far as eating and drinking go, com- pared with his subsequent position at Fort Confi- dence, where a scanty supply of fish was often the only food, and unsweetened tea, made of the bitter herbs of the swamps, the only luxury ! His cheerful temperament made him contented, if not happy, under any circumstances. THOMAS SIMPSON. 71 CHAPTER VI. A Winter Journey of seven hundred Miles. — Life in the Woods. — Red River Colony. — Letter to the Author on the Death of our eldest Brother. — Sketches of Character. My brother remained at York Factory — the pleasant residence described in the last chapter, until the 10th of February 1831, when, agreeably to instructions, he started for Red Rivei. This was a winter's journey of seven hundred miles ; a good trial for a novice in this mode of travel- ling ; but he made light of it. He was furnished with an excellent set of dogs, by means of which, had he been lazily in- clined, he might have been c nveyed at hie case all day; or, at any rate, m\^\vi iiavc spared him- self a few hours of th« daily mji cu. But he was ambitious after ex«' el lence in rU things; he determined to make hiDs^Jf a *'good leg" on snow-shoes, and never on :'c took refuge in his vehicle. He thus describes the journey to me : — " On the 10th of February I stir ?(' from the m .--■«■ ^>li 72 LIFE AND TUAVELS OF II Factory on snow-shoes,* with a small party of men and Indians, and a couple of trains of dogs. " Our route lay partly on lake and river way, and partly through the woods to Norway House, and from thence on Lake Winipeg to the mouth of the Red River. We travelled as fast as the dogs could follow, which, for the greater part of the way, was about thirty miles per day; the last two hundred miles I accomplished in five days ; and my longest day on snow-shoes was fifty miles. The whole distance is about seven hundred miles, which occupied twenty-two days' marching, besides six days we were obliged to stop to rest our dogs at Oxford House, Norway House, and Beren's River. For myself f never felt fatigue, though I left two of my men com- pletely knocked up on the way ; besides taking fresh Indians at Norway House. " Winter travelling is a most healthv and strengthening exercise, and gives one a most voracious appetite: 'good digestion waits on ap- petite, and health on both ;' and, in your cham- ber dug into the snow, a fence of brushwood on * Snow-shoes are made of wooden frames of about four feet long by a foot broad, peaked before and behind : the frames arc supports for a network of sinews. They are strapped to the feet, and enable the wearer to pass over snow, into which lie would otherwise sink deep. They weigh one riud a half to two pounds per shoe. THOMAS SIMPSON. 73 H three sides, a huge fire made of whole trees on the fourth ; your bed a litter of pine branches spread on the frozen soil ; your bedding a blan- ket, and ^soniet'mes) a skin ; the starry heavens your canop} — more sound and refreshing sleep is enjoyed, than waits upon many an one sunk in cushions of down, and curtained with silk. " I think, by the bye, old Ovid must have been a traveller in a hyperborean region, from his lucid description of the most important oi)era- tions of a winter encampment. I won't l)ore you with the classics ; but here goes Dryden's ver- sion : — ' I: i. \. ' With leaves and bark he feeds the infant fire ; It smokes — and then, with trembling breath, ne blows, Till in a cheerful blaze the flames arose. With brushwood and with chips he strengthens these. And adds at last the trunks of rotten trees. The fire thus formed, hu sets the kettle on.' "The day's march, moreover, is one scene of excitement ; each man putting his best foot fore- most, afraid that his follower will tread on his heels — the greatest insult * a good leg ' can re- ceive. Then we have continual amusement from the dogs ; their bells ring a merry lively peal as they jog along ; they often show the perversity of their nature by going out of the right path, get- ting entangled among the trees or bushes, or nn >^ t 74 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF witli each other; and to right them gives occa- sional relief to the monotony of the steady tramp. " I thought little of the cold ; and during the march never wore anything warmer than a cloth capot." There are strong indications even in this brief narrative, that my brother wanted neither enter- [)rjse nor stamina for travelling in the " Far North." But it must not be supposed that all in that country possess the same powers, or the same habits ; that all who go to tliis region of snow do, really, suffer an arctic change : on the con- trary, my brotlier was considered as acting very absrirdly in thus exposing himself unnecessarily to fatigue. Then are many officers in that coun- try who have r^ever walked a day's journey on foot ; whose whole life is one of almost object- less torpor, a transition du lit a la table, de la table au lit. AVhcn these do travel from one point to another, they do it with such means and ap- pliances, that the journey entails but the small- est modicum of fatigue or exposure. There is a well known instance of an oiHcer crossing from Hudson's Bay to the Pacific without once wet- ting his f.M^t : he would have performed the same feat in re turning, had not his carrier been bribed to souse him bi/ accident. Another made a tour through a large portion of the country : over ■*ife THOMAS SIMPSON. 75 N hill and dale, through tangled forest, and up 8tep'> cliffs; yet no representation of his guides as- tu the all but impossibility of the dogs' dragging his carriole, with himself in it, over these diffi- culties, could induce him to swerve from his usual habit of walking one hour per day for appetite, remaining during the rest of the time snugly wrapped up in his furs and blankets. Such men would have been ill adapted for fatigues, labours, and privations, such as those which Arctic discovery imposed uj)on my brother. Immediately on his ariival at Red River, he entered upon the duties for which his talents, assiduity, and business habits, so well fitted him ; and those duties engrossed his whole time and attention. " My occupations, in short," he writes me, *' have been very various ; secre- tary, clerk, storesman, surveyor, ^c. ;" and such they continued for the succeeding five years, during which he was the active manager of the details of the colony business. He annually made a voyage to York Factory, to arrange that business in its external relationsf-' ; this occupied four to five months of each year, and the re- maining months were busily employed in its in- ternal arrangements. His own description of this secluded and al- most unknown little colonv. Mill be found in the :f^ »*i r' Hk ^ 76 LIFE AND TUAVELS OF 1:1 next chapter; I shall preface it by portions of his correspondence with me. On hearing of our eldest brother's death, he wrote me thus : li "York Factory, July 2l8t, 1832. "My dearest Alic. " The hand of affliction has been heavy upon us this year. In my letter from Red River I mentioned the death of the Governor's infant boy ; and now wc have to deplore a much greater loss, the death of our poor brother, iEmilius. Poor fellow ! he had been highly successful on the coast ; conducted the expedition that safely formed the establishment at Nass, among the warlike inhabitants of Observatory Inlet; and was in the highest spirits at his good fortune when the arrow of death smote him. " How vain are man's hopes ! He was the dutiful son; the affectionate brother; and the generous honourable friend ; but all this could not save him. Were there only this world, we might truly say of what profit is it to be upright ? But there is a better one ; and the circumstances of his death are most consoling. He expired per- fectly sensible and resigned, at Nass, on the 2nd of September, after a thirteen days' illness of his old enemy — the liver complaint, during which m THOMAS SIMPSON. 77 he endured much suffering, till towards the last, M'heii the pain ceased ; and so calm was his end, that the medical man alone perceived it. A few minutes before, he asked him " Doctor, is there no hope ?" " Well, then," he continued, " God's will be done. I have nothing to communicate. T am resigned to my fate." lie was buried witli every mark of honour and respect ; and his re- mains rest within a few yards of the guns of Fort Simpson. My heart is too full to say more. T send you your last letters to him. 1 have a lock of his hair, which I shall keep, or send to our dearest mother. Poor woman ' what a blow this will be to her ! ^lay Providence support her under it ! " I can only acknowledge and thank you grate- fully for your letters of the 20th and 29th of April, and the 7th and 10th of May, wliich I shall reply to by another opportunity. We two, I may say, are now left alone, and should, if possible, love each other even more than before. T am much harassed with business and my own feelings, Mhich I must suppress. " T shall write our dear mother under cover to you in a day or two. God bless you, my dear- est A lie, and believe me, " Your ever affectionate brother, " Thomas Simpson." ,*t.H 1 iH; 78 LIFE AND TRAVEis OF The tbl lowing extracts afford raj)itl sketches of character of those with wliom ho was tlirown into contact in this " wild unknown to public view." (Date, July, 1833. Governor Simpson was absent in England during tlto year 1833- 34.) " You would, perhaps, like to know how we have been going on here this season — exceed- ingly well ; far less bustle and as good and rapid work as if the Governor himself were on the ground. '* Eiitre nous, I have often remarked, that his Excellency miscalculates when he expects to got more out of people by sheer driving ; it only puts every one in ill humour. Since T have been at the Factory, I have never seen so much cheerfulness accompanied by strictest regularity as this season. "To myself, in particular, the difference is very great; as, with all the Governor's good will and kind intentions, he has been to me a severe and most repulsive master. I know, and he has more than once told me, that this was a matter of policy with him ; but he veiled his policy very badly, so that every clerk could see through it, which would have gradually brought me into contempt : but I have this season taught them that I could command respect, and have r^is 4ii THOMAS SIMPSON. 70 been in consequence treated i)y every one, liigli anil low, more en bourgeois than en commis.* " Chief Factor Christie, you will have heard, is now governor of Red Uiver, and has, besides, the summer management of York Factory ; so that he is now in fact the second man in Rupert's land. And well does he merit such a situation ; for a worthier or more honourable man I believe never existed. I feel i)articularly happy in act- ing? under him; in fa('^ he is the onlv man whom I have yet se m the country, whom T could now respect and esteem, as my immediate superior. His sound judgment, his integrity, his liberal and enlarged views, entitle him to the former, while his genuine kindness of heart and manner ensure the latter. Yes manner^ as the governor has often told me, is half — more than half — the battle : but in that which he so much vaunted, he ought himself to have set the ex- ample. By assuming a harsh manner towards me, he should have known — he who lays claim to so much tact and knowledge of human nature — that the necessary effect on a young and generous mind would be a reciprocal repulsiveness, per- haps hatred; but I know his real sentiments, and forgive his apparent, though unnecessary unkind- ness. Yes, manner is half the battle; and in this, * The Canadian terms for partners and employes. t. ! , , O ■M 'I '•^11 i ,v«i IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) i These enterprises were, in a great measure, suspended by the struggle which ended in the conquest by Great Britain of Canada ; and, for some years after the treaty, by which that pro- vince was annexed to the British crown, the fur trade, and consequent exploration of the In- dian country, was almost entirely neglected. ; • It was not till 1767 that a party, headed by ' 1 r » r • , . , . . , '.1 ■;>.;■., ; , - - • - i .: ( ; • The present establishment is within one tundrtd miles of the position of the old French establishment. I *\ ■! THOMAS SIMPSON. 113 a British subject, again penetrated to the Sas- katchewan ; but the rich rewards which he won by his adventure attracted others to the field. In 1776, the Misinipi, or English River, was visited by Mr. Joseph Frobisher. In 1776, that gentleman's brother penetrated to Isle a la Crosse (lat. 55« 26'). Mr. Pond, in 1778, advanced three hundred miles further into this terra incognita, and esta- blished himself within thirty miles of the Atha- basca Lake. In 1781, a permanent establishment was formed at the same point. These explorations were the result of the in- dividual enterprise of traders from Canada. They wei'e prompted solely by the desire for gain. The adventurers who conducted them had no scientific knowledge or acquirements ; and their proceedings were adopted solely on the inform- ation which their residence among the Indians enabled them to obtain regarding still more dis- tant countries yet un visited. In 1783, the leading individuals concerned in this commerce, foreseeing that rivalry was in- jurious to the interest of all ; and rightly judg- ing that in such enterprises there was a neces- sity for united action, formed themselves into an I 114 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF association under the title of " The North- West Company." This energetic body continued in existence for thirty-eight years, during the greater part of which period it monopolized the fur trade of the interior parts of North America — extending its establishments to the Arctic Circle and Pa- cific Ocean. Flushed with success, it founded trading posts even on the coast of Hudson's Bay. The Hudson's Bay Company, although armed with a chartered right to the exclusive right of trade with the Indians, not only along that coast, but over all the countries whose waters fall into Hudson's Bay, (a right which includes the greater part of the Indian country,) confined its trading stations almost entirely to the coast. In 1774, more than a century after the date of its charter, its furthest advance was but four hundred and fifty miles inland, (its Canadian rivals receiving their annual supplies from points more than two thou- sand miles distant,) and it was not till nearly thirty years afterwards that it adopted the policy of vigorously contesting the trade with them. After a contest, to which I have already ad- verted, which was marked by great bitterness of feeling, considerable excitement, much menace, and some violence and loss of life, a coalition of THOMAS SIMPSON. 115 r'l; the stocks of both Companies, (tb'' chartered privileges of one being thrown into the scale,) was effected in 1821. HEARNE'S JOURNEY TO THE ARCTIC OCEAN. The first European who penetrated through the northern parts of America to the Arctic Ocean, was Mr. Samuel Hearne, an officer of the Hudson's Bay Company. The report of the Northern Indians, who, pre- viously to the establishment of the Canadian traders in the Athabasca country, annually car- ried their furs to Churchill, on Hudson's Bay — had caused the governor of that establishment to believe in the existence of a fine river at no very great distance, the course of which .was to the northward, and on the banks of which large quantities of copper, in almost a pure state, were to be found. On representing this to the Hudson's Bay Company, he was authorized to send an officer on a visit of exploration to this promising field. Mr. Samuel Hearne was the officer selected for this service. He seems to have been well qualified in physical capability of enduring fa- tigue and privation for such an enterprise ; but his astronomical knowledge extended no further than to the mechanical operation of " taking the 1 2 111! 116 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF sun" for the latitude. This he could do, it may be presumed, correctly, when he was furnished with a good instrument ; but his Hadley's quad- rant, " with a bubble attached to it for an hori- zon, and made by Daniel Scatlif, of Wapping,'' was broken before he had advanced far; and though he returned and procured from the estab- lishment " an old Elton quadrant, which had been upwards of thirty years at the fort," he might as well have been without this superannuated in- strument — for his observations are, in som j cases, nearly five degrees wrong. It may be fairly doubted whether these were not intentional errors. He went a great way : was in conscience obliged to give an unfavora- ble report to his employers of the result of his mission, and may perhaps have thought, that, ad- ding " a handful of degrees" to his journey, could do no harm to others, whatever good it might do to himself. These errors have been fully proved and ex- posed by subsequent explorers ; and, indeed, were more than suspected by parties under whose no- tice his journal came before it was published. But, nothing daunted by their remarks, he pub- lished his narrative to the world, and sticks fast to his statement, that he found the mouth of the Coppermine River in lat 71°. 54.' li ' ( THOMAS SIMPSON. 11 His journal is, certainly, constructed as if In* were himself fully aware of this mis-statement in latitude, (longitudes, of course, could not have been expected from him,) and wished, by a con- fused and disjointed narrative, to bewilder his reader, so that he could in no ways correct him by an approximated estimate of his courses and distances. It is certain, however, that he did reach the mouth of the Coppermine River, and that in attaining to and returning from that point, he suffered much fatigue and privation. A short sketch of his proceedings may not be uninter- esting. He took his departure from Churchill, (the most northern establishment on the shores of Hudson's Bay,) on the 6th of November 1769 ; his immediate companions being two Orkney men, and two Indians; while " Captain Chawchinchaw,* his Lieutenant Nabyah,* and six or eight north- ern Indians had particular orders to conduct him, provide for him, and assist him in everything until he reached the borders of the Athapuscow Indians' country, where Captain Motonabee was to meet him in the spring of 1770, in order * Indian Leaders. — It was the custom of the Hudson's Bay Traders to give such a laced coat, and call him « Captain '' in compliment. If ll 118 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF to conduct him to a river represented by the Indians to abound with copper ore, animals of the fur kind, &c., and whicli is said to be so far to the northward, that in the middle of the summer, the sun does not set, and is supposed by the Indians to empty itself into some ocean." Captain Chawchinchaw proved a very broken reed whereon to lean for support and assistance. Ere they had been three weeks absent, Ilearno son'owfully chronicles, " that he had not the prosperity of the undertaking at heart ;" and this want of cordiality exhibited itself plainly in his refusing to aid Hearue and his compa- nions in the labour of carrying their own ammuni- tion, articles for trade and clothing, and in leaving them to depend entirely on their own exertions for a supply of provisions. Finding that this kind of treatment would not rid him of his per- severing companion, he caused some of his In- dians to desert in the night with the greater part of the traveller's ammunition, &c. Of the perpetration of this theft, he, of course, pleaded entire ignorance ; but he told Mr. Hearne, that it must necessarily, put an end to his further proceeding in his company, and " he and his crew packed up their awls on the 30th of Novem- ber, and set out towards the south-west, making the woods ring with their laughter, and left us THOMAS SIMPSON. 119 to consider of our unhappy situation, near two hundred miles from Prince of Wales' Fort." On llearnc's return, he fell in with Indians from whom he procured supplies of provisions, and he got safely back to Churchill on the 12th of December, to " his own great mortification, and the no small surprise of the Governor, who had placed great confidence in the abilities and con- duct of Chawchinchaw." Shortly after his return, an Indian called Connequesse, informed him, that he had been very near the river he was engaged to go in search of. This was an inducement to embark again on the enterprise; and little daunted by Captain Chawchinchaw's misconduct, Hearne again confided himself to Indian guidance, set- ting out on the 23rd of February, 1770, unac- companied by a single European. Striking across to the Seal River, they fol- lowed its course for several days, and travelling at the slow rate which Indians always adopt when they are in a country where provisions are abundant, they finally took up their quarters for the spring on the lake, forming the reser- voirs of that stream ; the guide declaring that it was yet too cold to walk on the barren grounds, and that the woods stretched west-south-west. Their stay hero was marked by tlic usual vicis- w I i'-; ' -it m 120 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF situdes of Indian house-keeping, sometimes too much — seldom just enough — frequently too little — and often none at all. Again resuming their route on the 23rd of May, they kept to the northward : the march was toilsome in the extreme, for the snow was deep yet soft, and their luggage heavy to haul, and still more so to carry on the back. Hearne often suf- fered extremely from hunger — his guide was a per- fect niggard of his provisions, and though he had a snug little tent he never asked his European charge to put his head into it. The rain was often heavy — the difficulty of lighting fires great ; and so when they did kill an animal, they ge- nerally ate a great part of it raw. Raw venison or raw fish, Mr. Hearne could manage with some little satisfaction ; but he reports the flesh of the Musk Ox as not only coanse and tough, but smelling and tasting so strong of musk, as to be very disagreeable — when raw ! On the 30th of June, they reached Yath Kyed Lake, near Chesterfield Inlet, and thence pro- ceeded leisurely to the north-west. Deer were plentiful ; his guide was in no hurry ; and on being taken to task for not advancing quicker, he told our traveller that he had no design to take him to Coppermine River that summer, but intended to take him there the next; an THOMAS SIMPSON. 121 unexpected piece of information which was re- ceived with much composure. Indeed, Heame seems to have had rather a liking for this kind of life ; and while provisions are abund- ant, never complains of delay. The Deer here were so numerous, that though there were up- wards of six hundred Indians collected together they all rioted in abundance. By the 12th of August, they had advanced to lat. 63." 10.' north ; and the distances given, and position in longitude stated, (from Churchill,) would indicate that they were but one hun- dred miles distant from Artillery Lake of Cap- tain Back. There, an unfortunate accident be- fel our traveller : while eating his dinner, a sud- den gust of wind blew down his quadrant, and "as the ground was very stony, the bubble, the sight vane and vernier were entirely broke to pieces, which rendered the instrument useless." ISfodern astronomers would be somewhat puzzled by the complex structure of this instrument. Its loss determined his return to Churchill, which was attended with as much difficulty and vicissitude as the advance. It was the 25th of November, before Mr. Hearne reached that place, after having been absent eight months and twenty-two days on a fruitless, or at least an unsuccessful, expedition. '1 '■ m I 122 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF n Two miscarriages did not daunt him — he volun- teered to undertake a third expedition, and his offer was readily accepted, " as his abilities and approved courage," (so he writes,) " in persevering under difficulties, were thought no-ways inferior to the task." He entered upon this journey under more fa- vourable auspices; for he placed himself under the conduct of Matonabee, a leader of some im- portance among the Northern Indians, who pur- posed a journey — ostensibly for the purposes of trade, but really for the purpose of making war on tlie Esquimaux — to the river of which Hearne was instructed to make a survey. On the 7th of December, 1770, the journey was begun. Mr. Hearne being unaccompanied by either European or home-guard Indian, in fact, entirely dependent on the good faith of Ma- tonabee ; and it may be justly said, that the confidence was not abused. Their route lay through the barren grounds to North-lined Lake, (called by Hearne Island Lake,) which they reached on the 30th of Decem- ber. Striking west from it, they travelled at a very easy rate; and having arrived, on the 16th of January, (1771,) among deer, they remained for several days drying and preparing provisions, of which Matonabee seems to have been, compara- tively, a careful purveyor. I THOMAS SIMPSON. 123 Continuin*. their journey on the 22nd, on the 6th of February they crossed the Cathawhachaga River; deer were too abundant for their rapid advance ; it was the 21st before they readied Theyeholekyed Lake. Proceeding slowly to the southward, they took up their quarters on the 8th of April at Lake Thleweyazazeth ; and knowing that on the banks of the river flowing out of it was the best point at which birch wood for tent-poles and sledges, and birch-bark for small canoes could be obtained, they tarried for the purpose of providing these necessaries. Thence striking across to Clowey, they met a large number of Indians ; and here a combination was formed by the more active and daring of the men, to go to the Coppermine River for the purpose of attacking the Esquimaux.* Mr. Hearne endeavoured to dissuade them from this intention, but he had no influence, and finding that they were firmly bent on the enterprise, he made no scruple about accompanying them. They, accordingly, left all the women, children, dogs, heavy baggage, and other incumbrances, * "An Esquimaux hunt" has always been a favourite di- version among the Border Indians. A decrepit Indian, who acted as cook at a station where I resided, often told me of the pleasure he enjoyed when an active youth in going on these expeditions. 4- f - * i li! Y' '-''si ii 124 I LIFE AND TRAVELS OF iTi and on the 1st of June started northward, and travelled with great speed. Whether Mr. Hearne left his quadrant among the other incumbrances he does not mention ; but his subsequent state- ments of latitude are quite erroneous, and his narrative very confused. He states himself to have been, on the 16th of June, in lat. 67" 30', (nearly that of the mouth of the Coppermine). He places himself on the 1st of July in lat. 68" 46', (the position of Victoria and Wollaston lands in the Arctic Ocean). On the 13th of July, he reached the Coppermine River at about forty miles from its month ; and he expresses his sur- prise and disappointment at finding it scarcely navigable for an Indian canoe, instead of accord- ing with the Indians' description of it — a fine river, navigable for vessels. He, however, made a survey of it to its mouth, which he places in lat. 71" 54'. He acknow- ledges that he had no observation here ; but states his confidence that, from the extraordinary care he took in observing the courses and distances from his last point of observation, the accuracy of latitude given may be depended upon within twenty miles at the utmost. At all events he saw before him the Great Arctic Ocean, a sight never before seen by European ! The search after copper was no less a disap- " '» THOMAS SIMPSON. 125 ,-» n pointment than the sliallowness of the river. From Indian report he had been led to anticipate arriving at "hills entirely composed of that metal, all in handy lumps like a heap of pebbles ;" but he found that he could collect even specimens with much difficulty. He secured one very fine one, a piece of pure copper, weighing about four pounds. His cursory search by no means dis- proves the existence of large quantities of pure copper in this distant region — a source of wealth could it be arrived at. Nor is it impossible that ere this century has passed, an organized system of internal communication, such as that which traverses Northern Asia, may place this valuable natural deposit within the reach of commerce. Of the butchery committed by his companions on the poor Esquimaux at the Bloody Fall, I abstain from any recital. Mr. Hearne was a close and wonderfully unconcerned spectator of this most diabolical massacre, and describes it with painful circumstantiality. Their return was by a more westerly route, though the obscurity of the narrative makes it difficult to trace the precise course followed. On the 3rd of September they were at Point Lake — a part of the country visited subsequently by Franklin's Expedition. On the 24th of Decem- ber they reached the Great Slave Lake. (Hearne i'*''^ m 'I -iU 126 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF calls it the great Atliapascow Lake.) Crossing it they proceeded some distance up the Slave River, and then struck off to the eastward. On the 28th of April they were at Thleweyazazeth, the place where they had prepared their birch- work twelve months befoia. And on the 29th of June, 1772, our traveller arrived in good health at Churchill, after having been absent eighteen months and twenty-three days, during which long period he had lived with the Indians — a mode of life to which it is wonderful how soon a Euro- pean becomes reconciled. That he pursued his object with pertina- cious perseverance, and that he fully accom- plished it, cannot be doubted; but his journey gave but very little correct knowledge of the geography of Northern America. SIR ALEXANDER MACKENZIE'S DESCENT TO THE ARCTIC OCEAN. Mr. Alexander Mackenzie, (subsequently for his American discoveries created Sir Alex- ander,) after being for a few years one of the conductors of an independent fur-trading asso- ciation, became, in 1787, an acting partner of the North-west Company, and was immediately appointed to the management of its affairs in p.is THOMAS SIMPSON. 127 Athabasca, the most northern division of country to which its trade extended. His winter residence during 1788-9, was Fort Chipewyan, on Athabasca Lake, whicli may be termed the point of departure of every expedi- tion which has yet been set on foot for Arctic discovery, with the single exception of the pre- ceding bold attempt of Hearne. A still more northern establishment had been formed at Great Slave Lake. Mr. Mackenzie, doubtless, obtained from the Indians who traded there and at Fort Chipewyan, a knowledge of the existence of a large river, flowing out of the Slave Lake; and being, he writes, " endowed by Nature with an inquisitive mind and an enterprising spirit, possessing also a constitution and power of body equal to the most arduous undertaking, and being familiar with toilsome exertions, he not only contem- plated the practicability of penetrating across the continent of America, but was confident in the qualifications as he was animated by the desire to undertake this perilous enterprise ; and the wishes of his particular friends and commercial associates contributed to quicken the execution of this favourite project of his own ambi- tion." It would appear from his narrative, that he n- ^ I 128 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF anticipated that the river flowing out of Great Slave Lake emptied itself into the Pacific Ocean ; consequently he hoped by descending it to tra- verse the American continent. He was disappointed in this expectation ; for the noble river which he descended, and which bears his name, conducted him to the Arctic Ocean; but it is not surprising that he should have entertained such an expectation, for the river flows into Slave Lake from the west; and as he had no means of ascertaining its longitude, he might easily have placed it nearer the north-west coast of America than subse- quent observations have proved it to be ; more- over, Hearne placed the Arctic Sea five degrees further north than it really is, which might have deterred Mackenzie from endeavouring to reach it. Mr. Mackenzie started on the 3rd of June, 1789, on his voyage from Fort Chipewyan, in a bark canoe manned by five men, two of whom were accompanied by their wives. He had also in company a smaller canoe, containing an enter- prising chief of the Chipewyan tribe, his two wives, and two Indians. Descending the Slave River, he reached Great Slave Lake on the 9th of June, and found it still partially covered with ice. This caused them f!* THOMAS SIMPSON. 129 some detention, and its disruption was followed by strong winds, causing a heavy swell, which made the coasting of the lake a matter of no small risk and difficulty. The Indian guide whom he had employed was, also, but imperfectly ac- quainted with the situation of the river. From a combination of these causes, he did not com- mence his descent of the " Mackenzie River," till the 29th of June. Once embarked on this noble stream — which has a course, unbroken by rapid or fall, of nearly eight hundred miles— the voyage was compara- tively " plain sailing." It is true the Indians, whom he saw on its banks, gave disheartening accounts of the im- mense distance at which lay the " Great Lake," and described with the fluency and circumstan- tiality in which no one can excel an Indian alarmist, (and out of their own immediate circle, all is alarm,) the monsters of horrid shape and destructive powers, whom he would encounter; nay, exaggerated into frightful falls and rapids — slight velocities in current, which their own small canoes descended in safety. But all this had little effect upon a man of such iron nerves as Mackenzie. He generally brought those palavers to a conclusion, by causing, partly by violence, partly by persuasion, one of the alarmists to *»» ^m 130 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF f%! i'i embark as guide of the party, until it should reach some other tribe. He advanced so rapidly down this river, that, on the 10th July, he arrived at deserted Esqui- maux encampments. On the 12th, he came to a large lake, which the Indians knew nothing about, further than that in it the Esquimaux killed large fishes. — It was the Arctic Ocean he had reached ! Next day, those large fishes, which proved to be whales, were seen disporting themselves, and Mackenzie, seized with a sudden penchant for making war upon the finny monsters, ordered his canoe out in pursuit of them; but, like his countryman. Hector Macintyre, in his at- tack on the Phoca,* he gained little by this movement. Having ventured beyond the islands he was overtaken by a squall, and regained Whale Island with much difficulty. Here he observed a rise of eighteen inches in the tide, but does not state whether he found the water salt or not. Subsequent expeditions, however, fully proved that he was quite correct in stating, that he hud landed on an island in the Arctic Ocean. His return was performed with the same ease and comparative absence of privation and risk, * See « The Antiquary." Jf * This is easily accounted for by the fact of its having a course, due north, for two hundred and fifty miles before its confluence with the Mackenzie. K 2 1! HI THOMAS SIMPSON. 131 I which marked his descent. On the 16th of July he commenced his homeward voyage. On the 2nd of August, he passed the confluence of the Great Bear Lake River, always inquiring of the Indians as he advanced for the great river flowing from the westward, which he supposed would lead him to the vicinity of Norton Hound (North Pacific coast). On the 13th, he passed the River aux Liards, which did not attract his attention as likely to lead to the westward.* On the 22nd, he re- entered Great Slave Lake ; and, in coasting it, he seems to have run greater risks than he had before done on his voyage. On one occasion, he made a traverse from point to point of twenty- four miles, a matter of much risk with a bark canoe in a lake so subject to storms. On the 3rd of September, he commenced the ascent of the Slave River, and on the 12th reach- ed his wintering quarters at Fort Chipewyan, after a journey, the result of which was highly important ; while it was so conducted that no privations, fatigues, or dangers, other than those ever incident to travels in this hyperborean ^ ^1 ^ "Is I' I ««*a I 'J " j. 1 ' Sill 132 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF f % region — were undergone by himself, his men, or their adventurous spouses, who so gallantly ac- companied them. Mr. Mackenzie afterwards made a journey across the continent, and reached the Pacific coast in lat. 52. This enterprise exposed him to far greater dangers, fatigues, and privations, than marked his descent to the Arctic Ocean ; but he successfully surmounted them all. Ho afterwards took a leading part for several years in the fur trade, and, returning home, married, in a green old age, a young lady connected with our family. He was himself, a native of the Northern Highlands, and a marked similarity in many points of character, may be traced between him and my brother. SIR JOHN FRANKLIN'S FIRST EXPEDITION. The subject of Discovery on the Arctic coast of America, upon which, as we have seen, a dim light had been thrown by expeditions undertaken by two officers of the trading Companies, was, after the lapse of thirty years, taken up by the British Government. In this interval, indeed, some further know- ledge had been acquired by the progress to the north of the trading establishments which were now extended to the Mackenzie River. THOMAS SIMPSON. 133 The first Government expedition to survey the northern coast of America was orpfanized in 1819, under the command of Lieut, (now Sir John) Franklin ; an expedition l)y sea being at the same time sent out under the command of Lieu- tenant (now Sir Edward) Parry. The objects of the Arctic Land Expedition are thus detailed in Franklin's ])ublished narrative : " My instructions in substance informed me, that the main object of the expedition was that of determining the latitudes and longitudes of the northern coast of North America, and the trend- ing of the coast from the mouth of the Copper- mine River to the eastern extremity of that continent. It was left for me to determine, according to circumstances, whether it might be more advisable to proceed at once, directly to the Northward till I arrived at the sea coast, and proceed westerly towards the Coppermine River, and from thence easterly till I should arrive at the eastern extremity of that Continent. That, as another principal object of the expedition was to amend the very defective geography of the northern part of North America, I was to be very careful to ascertain correctly the latitude and longitude of every remarkable spot upon our route, and of all the bays, harbours, rivers, head- lands, &c., that might occur along the northern m ii >'lfj ir l< 'J ■*■. 134 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF shore of North America. That, in proceeding along the coast, I should erect conspicuous marks at places where ships might enter, or to which a hoat could be sent; and to deposit information as to the nature of the coast for the use of Lieutenant Parry. " I was instructed on my arrival at or near the mouth of the Coppermine River, to make every inquiry as to the situation of the spot from whence the copper had been brought down by the Indians to the Hudson's Bay establishment ; and to visit and explore the place in question, in order that Doctor Richardson might be enabled to make such observations as might be useful in a commercial point of view, or interesting to the Science of Mineralogy." The attempt to carry out those instructions exposed the officers who were appointed to the management of the expedition, and the men under their command, to trials and privations such as never have been exceeded, seldom, if ever, equalled. ' Four officers were specially selected for this service, whose several characters promised an admirable adaptation for its prosecution. The commander calm and temperate, but firm and persevering. . , > The second in command, Dr. Richardson, of THOMAS SlMrSON. 135 untiring energy, great resolution, and powerful bodily frame. Mr. Hood (who unfortunately perished), a young man actuated by the noblest feelings, and of high acquirements. Mr. (now Sir George) Back, whose subsequent efforts in the same field prove his abilities as a traveller. But they laboured under two serious disad- vantages, — disadvantages to which the disastrous result of their expedition was undoubtedly attri- butable. These were — First, Their utter unac- quaintance with the country through which they had to pass, and with the modes of travelling and living therein.* All this they had to learn while * It is in no invidious spirit, but in illustration of the above remarks, that I here contrast the different manner in which Captain Franklin and my brother got through with, and viewed the winter's journeys which brought them to Fort Chipewyan, the place which may be called the starting point of both expeditions. Captain Franklin travelled from Cumberland House to Fort Chipewyan, a distance of eight hundred and fifty-seven miles in sixty nine days. My brother travelled from Red River to Fort Chipewyan, a distance of one thousand two hundred and seventy-seven miles, in sixty-three days. Captain Franklin thus chronicles his feelings on ending this initiatory trip : " Thus has terminated a winter's journey of eight hundred and fifty-seven miles, in the progress of which there has been a great intermixture of agreeable and disagree- 1 , I m < is 136 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF I hi conducting the expedition, and the surprise which one who has any acquaintance with that country feels on perusing the narrative is, that they suc- ceeded in advancing so far as they did, not that they should have endured such frightful sufferings on their retuni. Second, — The disordered state of the Indian territories in consequence of the hot opposition carried on between the North West and Hud- son's Bay Companies. This rivalry, to which I have elsewhere alluded, was, at the period of this expedition, at its greatest able circumstances. Could the amount of each be balanced, I suppose the latter would much preponderate ; and amongst these the initiation into the practice of walking in snow shoes may be considered as prominent. The suffering it occasions can but faintly be imagined by a person who thinks upon the inconvenience of marching with a weight of between two and three pounds constantly attached to galled feet and swelled ankles ; perseverance and practice only will enable the novice to surmount this pain." My brother closes the narrative of his run with these words : " Thus happily terminated a winter's journey of one thousand two hundred and seventy-seven statute miles, in the wilderness, time and space seem equally a blank, and, for the same reason, a paucity of objects to mark or diversify their passage ; but, in my real opinion, the secret of the little account which is made of distance in these North American wilds is, that there is nothing to pay. Every assistance is promptly rendered to the traveller without fee or reward ; while health and high spirits smile at the fatigues of the way." THOMAS SIMPSON. 137 height. Captain Franklin was furnished with let- ters from the capitalists of both parties, instruct- ing their subordinate agents to render the expedi- tion every assistance. But the truth of the old proverb " between tw^o stools," was fully exempli- fied in this case. The parties " haggled and higgled" as to which should bear the burden of supplying the expedition. Thus, in one in- stance, the officer of one Company left five valu- able, almost indispensable, packages on the beach, because the canoes of the other Company had not a similar number; at another place no provisions were given by one party, while the other gave such as turned out unserviceable. Again, "the answer from the North West gentleman was satis- factory enough ; but on the Hudson's Bay side I was told ' that any further assistance this season entirely depends on the arrival of supplies expect- ed in a few weeks from a distant establishment.'" The spirit of hostility was carried so far, that at one place where it was particularly desirable to have a conference with the leading officers of both Companies, on the plans of the expedition, it was necessary for Captain Franklin to pitch his tent half-way between the rival establish- ments, and to invite to this neutral ground, the dignitaries of the trading posts. The expedition left Fort Chipewyan on the ^1 Ml 1:J •' 5 I Is « i4t9 m I ^. m '11 '11^ 1-^ I 138 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF lltb of July, 1820, in three canoes made of birch bark. These were the only craft used at that time in the Indian territories; they are now almost entirely superseded by boats ; but they were very unfit for Arctic navigation, for the bark of which they are formed, though tough and strong when floating in water of a mode- rate temperature, is extremely fragile and brittle when immersed in water of such a low tempera- ture as that of the Arctic Ocean. Difficulties were not wanting at the very outset; for operations were commenced with provisions for only one day's consumption. Thus the party was dependent on the produce of the chase and fishery for daily supplies of food : a depend- ance which effectually prevents a steady or rapid advance. Captain Franklin was, also, quite dependent on the reports of the Indians, for the regulation of his plan of the expedition. His original purpose was to have descended the Mackenzie River, to cross Great Bear Lake, and from the eastern end of that inland sea, (whose immense size was quite unknown at that time) to make a portage across to the Copper- mine River. His plan as formed, after duly considering the information given by the North- ern Indians, was to cross Slave Lake, to ascend the Yellow-Knife River — a rapid stream falling k m THOMAS SIMPSON. 139 ill from the north — to establish his winter station on a chain of small lakes, leading from the head waters of that stream, to the head waters of the Coppermine River ; to descend that river in the spring, and then to proceed along the Arctic coast, with the hope of reaching Repulse Bay; a plan feasible in some respects, but quite im- practicable in others. They reached Fort Resolution on the 25th of July, where they obtained a small supply of provisions ; crossed the Slave Lake, and reached Fort Providence (the last trading station) on the 29th ; here they were again supplied with some provisions, and upon the 2nd of August, they launched upon the field of Arctic discovery. How they were provided for this bold enterprise ♦may be judged from the following detailed inventory of their effects : — Provisiomy two cases (fifty pounds each) of flour, two hundred Rein-deer tongues, some dried Moose meat, portable soup, and arrow-root, sufficient in the whole for ten days' con- sumption ; besides two cases of chocolate, and two canisters of tea. The stores consisted of two barrels of gunpowder, one hundred and forty pounds' ball and shot, four fowling pieces, a few old trading guns, eight pistols, twenty-four Indian daggers, some packages of knives, chisels, axes, nails and fastenings for a boat, a few yards of Ill: lis ' '*■ I 111 1'!; % III I ■ V, I ^ 140 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF cloth, some blankets, needles, looking-glasses, and beads, together with nine fishing nets. They followed the Yellow-Knife River until the 11th, ascending it a hundred and fifty-six miles, when they found that it dwindled into an insignificant rivulet. Now commenced a chain of small lakes, divided from each other by long portages ; the fatigue of carrying the canoes and baggage across which, joined to a scanty supply of food, caused much discontent among the Cana- dian voyageurs. On the 13th, they openly threatened to relin- quish the expedition ; the very same evening, however, a supply of deer*s meat was brought in ; they had got among the rein-deer. For several months afterwards, all hands lived in abundance; and Captain Franklin honourably chronicles of his Canadian companions, " that they never again reflected upon us as they had done before, for rashly bringing them into an inhospitable country where the means of subsistence could not be pro- cured ;" though frightful were the sufferings to which the inexperience of their officers exposed them. The lake on which the winter establishment was built, was attained on the 19th of August. The name of Fort Enterprise was bestowed on this most northerly of his Majesty's establish- ments. k THOMAS SIMPSON. 141 Tv70 separate parties, during August and Sep- tember, made visits of observation to the head- waters of the Coppermine Riv(3r. The establishment was well situated for a supply of provisions ; deer being very abundant during the autumn. At the conclusion of the hunting season, the latter end of October, they had secured in the store-houses the carcasses of one hundred deer, with one thousand pounds of suet, and some dried meat, and had, moreover, eighty deer stored up at various distances from the house. This would appear an ample supply ; but the establishment was large — a Canadian's appe- tite is insatiable, and it may be fairly doubt- ed, whether the officers were yet fully impressed with the necessity for rigid economy of provisions. The stock of ammunition was nearly expended in making this collection; and the receipt from the traders of the necessary supply of this article was so uncertain, that Mr. Back was despatched to Fort Chipewyan to negotiate for it. That this was not an unnecessary precaution may be judged from the fact already stated, that often packages forwarded from York Factory, five were wantonly left behind. The supplies which Mr. Back succeeded in obtaining were much less than was required ; but to convey even the quantity 1^! ^ I i N' '^ I |[l' 142 LIFE AND TRAVELS OB obtained rii sledges to the establishment, caused much fatigue to the servants employed. Already, in March and April, starvation began to make its appearance at Fort Enterprise, and an en- croachment was necessarily made on the stock reserved for the summer's voyage, yet not a mur- mur was heard from any one ; and when the meals were reduced to one per day, (sometimes none at all,) the amusement of eating was replaced by that of sliding down natural " Montagnes Russes" — the excellent commander taking the lead, until he was disabled by a fat Indian woman running her sledge over him, and thereby severe- ly spraining his knee. Their sole dependance was on the exertions of the Indian hunters; but doubts had already been instilled into their minds as to the solvency of the expedition, i.e. whether their promises to pay would be honoured — pay- ment in hand could not be made from want of means. This led to much diplomatic intercourse between Captain Franklin and Akaitcho, the principal chief of the Copper Indians, in which the latter played "fast and loose," very bare- facedly, and was brought to consent to accom- pany the expedition, only by the volunteering of some of his subordinates to go without him. Go he did, but with a bad will for his work. The month of June 1821 was wholly consumed 'fe w- '''i ''Si THOMAS SIMPSON. 143 in the transport of the canoes and baggage (provi- sions there were little, if any,) across the lakes forming the reservoirs of the Coppermine River, — a service of much fatigue and anxiety, — the whole being dragged over the ice, which, though still fast, was everything but firm. On the 14th of June, the last of the party started from Fort Enterprise. No one was left in the Establish- ment to collect provisions ; and the sole depen- dance for finding any on their return, was placed on the promises of the Indians — a fatal eiTor. On the 2nd of July the party embarked on the waters of the Coppermine River in two bark canoes, and its descent to ihe sea occupied them until the 18th. They cursorily examined the Copper Mountains, but did not find so many in- dications of pure copper as they had anticipated. Some Esquimaux were seen towards the mouth of the river, but they were frightened and ran away at. the appearance of the party ; and the only individual of that tribe, with whom they entered into intercourse, was an aged man at the Bloody Fall, (the scene of the massacre by Hearne's companions,) who was too infirm to make his escape with his relatives. From him they obtained but very little information regard- ing the coast. The Indian hunters, alarmed at the sight of their ancient enemies the Esquimaux, •II <: If I), «'•< \ lit 144 LIFE AND TRAVFXS OF retreated from the Bloody Fall. Mr. Wentzel, a clerk of the N.W. Co. — who, with four Canadians — was employed to assist on the expedition was also sent back from this point (why they had been taken so far does not clearly appear) : and on the 21st of July, the party, now reduced to twenty individuals, commenced their voyage on the hyperborean sea. They had provisions for but fifteen days, and their amunition consisted of only one thousand charges ! Their advance was impeded more by strong winds than by ice. By the 25th they had succeeded in advancing one hundred and thirty miles — to Cape Barrow ; but, after passing this point, they, unfortunately, got involved in the intricacies of Bathurst's Inlet. This circuit of gulph from Cape Barrow to Point Turnagain, — ■ the direct traverse being only about forty miles, — occupied from this date to the 18th of August, when it was resolved to discontinue the prosecu- tion of the eastern voyage. The result obtained by this expedition was the exploration of a line of Arctic Coast of one hundred and seventy statute miles ; * the distance between the Coppermine River and Repulse * I take the straight distances from point to point, without following the sinuosities of the coast. II THOMAS SIMPSON. 146 Bay, the Point which it was proposed to reach, being eight hundred statute miles. The season appears to have been very favour- able. The strong winds which stopped the pro- gress of their frail bark canoes, completely broke up the ice. Captain Franklin says, that " the ice would not have arrested a strong boat ;" and enters into an exposition of his views in respect to the practicability of approaching the coast with vessels — a practicability which has never yet been disproved. The return of the party was marked by frightful suffering and great loss of life. The plan proposed for the return was, to ascend Hood's River, and thence to strike across the country to Point Lake, expecting to find a sup- ply of provisions collected at Fort Enterprise. Several of the party — the gallant young Hood among the rest — never reached this place, and those who did had the misery to find that no provisions had been deposited there. It would be painful to narrate the sufferings of the poor fellows who perished, and the still greater suf- ferings of those who survived ; suffice it to say, that of the twenty individuals who embarked on the Arctic Sea, but ten returned ; namely — three officers, the faithful seaman Hepburn, and six Canadians. L ' ' tii i|n ■V 140 LIFE AND TRAVELS OK The officers returned to Knglaiul in the Autumn of 1822 ; and Captain I'Vanklin's publinhed narrative of tlio services performed, and sufferings endured, met with general approbation and general sympathy. t CAPTAIN SIR JOHN FRANKLIN'S SECOND EXPEDITION. Shortly after his return from the disastrous journey just described, Captain Franklin laid before His Majesty's Government a project for a renewed expedition to the same region. The Government, though feeling a deep interest in the subject, for a little while hesitated again to expose its subjects to perils and privations, such as marked the first expedition ; but its eon- sent being once granted, it was followed by pre- parations on a most comprehensive and munifi- cent scale. The objects of the expedition were — First, the exploration of the coast from the Mackenzie River to Icy Cape of Cook. This was to be attempted by one division under the per- sonal command of Captain Franklin. Second, the exploration of the coast between the Mackenzie and Coppermine Rivers ; this branch of the service was to be entrusted to Dr. Richardson. 11*^! 4 THOMAS SIMPSON. 147 His MaJL'sty's Ship IMushoiii, under tlio coiii- iiiuiul of ( uptaiii Jk'cchuy, was doHputclied round Capo Horn, for the purpose of ineotin^ Ca|)tain Franklin in J5L»lirint THOMAS SIMPSON. 157 CAPTAIN SIR JOHN ROSS'S EXPEDITION. It does not fall within my province to advert to the different maritime expeditions, by which our knowledge of the Arctic Seas and Islands bordering on Northern America has been ac- quired. This would form too wide a theme for me to enter upon, and would in no manner illustrate my subject ; for it must be remarked that nothing whatever has been done for the survey of the Arctic coast of America, by any of the different maritime expeditions. Beechey's Point Barrow, to the westward, I consider as the north-eastern extremity of Behring's Straits; while it is still doubtful whether Parry's "Straits of the Fury and Hecla," have a part of America for their southern shore. The distance between these two points is 70 degrees of longitude — eight of these — Boothia Gulf — have not yet been explored. The other sixty-two have been traced through the Expeditions which I have already adverted to, and which shall be narrated hereafter. But the expedition of Captain Sir John Ross having, as he asserted, made explorations by land which fully demonstrated the non-existence of any passage leading from the southern extremity of Prince Regent's Inlet (or, as he names it, Gulf 1 1 M 'til I p'*i E,. I I 158 LIFE AND THAVKLS OF of Boothia) to the Arctic 8ca; an assertion which was somewhat shaken by Back's descent of the Great Fish River, and which hus been demon- strated by the exi)edition, which will be fully narrated in the following jmges, to be quite in- correct, — I must briefly advert to his proceedings. Having advanced, during the season of open water of 1829, down Prince Regent's iidet in his steam-ship the Victory,^'* as far as lat. CD ' 51)', Captain Ross was compelled to take refuge for the winter in a bay, which he named — after the munificent sui)porter of the expedition — lelix Harbour. He was soon Joined by parties of Esquimaux, with whom he entered into a friendly and cordial communication, which continued uninterrupted during his stay on this desolate coast. From them he received much infonnation resj)ecting the configuration of the southern ])ortion of Prince Regent's Inlet, which they asserted — as their countrymen at Iglooick did to Parry — ap- proached nearly to Repulse Bay. ■ A chart is given by Captain Ross as drawn by the most intelligent of those natives. It delineates the Gulf of Boothia as a cul de sacy having no connexion, save at the Straits of Fury * Fitted out by tlio liberality of Mr. Sheriff Booth, after- wards created a Baronet. t THOMAS SIMI'SON. 150 ami llet'lti, with the soa eitlicr to tlio oast or west ; aiul the journeys made by the officers of the ship so convinced him of the correctness of the cliart, that he denies the possibility of there being any passai.v to the Artillery Lake, where they arrived ni xt day. Now commenced the most arduous ])art of the service — that of hauling the boats, baggage, and provisions over the ice of Artillerv. Clinf/: :^ -Colden, and I I ii,i 166 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF I P' Aylmer Lakes. This was done by the united exertions of all the party, joined to those of some Indians ; the indefatigable Mr. Macleod, with a party of Indians, hunting in advance of the party, and making deposits of fresh venison for them to pick up. This transport service was not got through with till the 3rd of July. The party divided at the Musk Ox Lake ; Mr. Macleod, with his hun- ters and some servants, being sent back to Great Slave Lake, while Captain Back, Mr. King, and eight men, commenced their descent to the coast. Mr. Macleod would, willingly, have en- gaged to strike across the barren grounds to the coast with his Indians later in the season, and thus secure a retreat for the party, should they succeed in advancing to the v/est; but his services were considered more valuable, in making the necessary arrangements for bringing supplies from the Company's post of Fort Resolution to Fort Reliance. The tedious descent of the Great Fish River I shall not detail : the weather was stormy, the lakes through which the river passed still covered with ice ; the falls and rapids numerous ; but the consummate skill of Mackay and Sinclair, the men who subsequently accompanied my brother, enabled them safely to pass all these dangers. '■'N THOMAS SIMPSON. 167 •I On the 28th oi" July they fell in with a small party of Esquimaux, near the mouth of the river, who were quiet, inoftensive, and dis- posed to aftord assistance and information. On the 30th, the party encamped at Cape Beaufort, a prominent point of the inlet, into which the Great Fish River falls. From this promontory they had the unpleasant view of the ocean, still covered with ice to the westward, while to the eastward there was a comparatively clear sea. But their views were confined to the western survey ; and though the promise to the east was inviting, it was not in accordance with " instructions" to pursue it. From Cai)e Beaufort, a narrow lane of open water led them to Montreal Island : and on the 7th of August, a temporary disruption of the ice enabled them to reach Point Ogle, on the western shore of the inlet ; this was the limit of their progress on il>c coast. They renuiined at and near this p(»int i'or several days, in hoj)es of a clear sea. Sov'oral indications noticed during this delay, led Captain Back to the conclusions — which have been proved correct — that there was A passage to the westward not far distant fronj his encamjnnent, and that the clear sea seen to the eastward, was a continuation of the Gulf of Boothia. 3f Li m ; -*' I \ ^ ,; III 168 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF On the 16th of August, there being no appear- ance of a clearing away of the western ice, the return of the expedition was commenced. On the 21st it re-entered the Great Fish River ; its ascent was long and tedious, but unmarked by any particular difficulties. On the 16th of September, Musk Ox Lake was again the en- camping place ; and here Mr. Macleod was found waiting their return with some men and In- dians. On the 27th of September tl.e party was again assembled at Fort Reliance ; and after full con- sideration of the prospects of completing the survey. Captain Back reluctantly came to the conclusion that it would be useless and injudi- cious to make another attempt the succeeding season, either by again descending the Great Fish River to its mouth, or by crossing the country from Lake Beechey to Bathurst's Inlet. He returned to England by the way of Canada^ in the sunmier of 1835 ; Dr. King and the Eu- ropeans of the party by Hudson's Bay, in the autumn of the same year. The result of this expedition was important only from iti throwing doubts upon the assertion of Captain Ross, that Boothia was a peninsula of Northern America. A sea was found where, according to his theory, a sea should not be. I N.I THOMAS SIMPSON. 169 It is evident that nothing could or wouli ^.;i 3 been done by this expedition for the relief and assistance of Captain Ross and his followers, had they been imprisoned by the want of a ship and boats on the shores of Prince Regent's Inlet. Yet it was highly creditable to the British nation that an expedition with so humane an object was so promptly organized. ttl SIR GEORGE BACKS INTENDED SURVEY FROM WAGER RIVER. In 1836 an expedition, of which the object was the exploration of the yet undiscovered part of the American Arctic coast, was sent out by the British Government under the command of Captain Back. The Terror, bomb-ship, was fitted out for this service, and Captain Back's instruc- tions were : To proceed through Hudson's Straits to Wager River, or Repulse Bay ; thence, by carrying light boats across the narrow strip of land dividing those inlets fiom the Gulf of Boothia, one party was to trace the eastern coast of that gulf, and another to follow the American coast till it reached Franklin's Point Turnagain, or Ross's Extreme. These instructions wen? "framed with the in- |i^- ^'i. 170 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF %4 H tention, and in the full belief, that this service may be duly and faithfully performed in the course of the present season (1836), and that this Arctic expedition may be distinguished from all others by the promptitude of its execution, and by es- caping from the gloomy and unprofitable waste of eight months' detention." This "full belief" on the part of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty was, to say the least, very absurd. The ice in Hudson's Straits and Bay seldom, if ever, permits of the arrival of a vessel from England on the shores of that inland sea previous to the month of August ; what then remains of the season for Arctic navigation is evidently too short to permit of the surveys pointed out being executed under the most favourable circumstances, or by the most energetic officers. Geographical Societies and Lords of the Ad- miralty, " living at home at ease," may prepare very plausible plans for Arctic expeditions, but the ice of the northern seas is very capricious, and is apt to mar the best considered projects — and this was not one of these. This particular season it was more capricious than it was ever before known to be. It blocked up passages which, in ordinary years, were (juite free; and instead of " escaping," as my lords fully believed > t THOMAS SIMPSON. 171 hi they would, " from the gloomy and unprofitable waste of eight months' detention," Captain Back and his gallant crew were obliged to winter among the ice of Hudson's Bay, witliout being able to attain their desired harbour ; and thus were, of course, utterly precluded from attempt- ing the discoveries for which they were outfitted. After encountering most imminent dangers, they succeeded, late in the summer of 1837, in extracting their vessel from the ice, and had much difficulty in keeping her afloat during the homeward voyage. The extent of discovery on the northern coast of America, previous to 1837, may be concisely recapitulated thus : — Point Barrow, the north-cast cape of Beh ring's Straits, reached by the Blossom's barge from the Pacific, is in longitude 156° 20' W. From the Atlantic, an advance had been made through Prince Regent's Inlet to longi- tude 92° W. The distance between these two points is (in round numbers) one thousand six hundred statute miles. The existence of two rivers falling into the Arctic Sea between those points, and floM'ing *». ! i 172 LIFE AND TUAVLLS OK r.^^ "U I) northward from countries comparatively known, was proved by Hearne and Mackenzie. Following those rivers, two successive Govern- ment expeditions traced the coast between their mouths; and also an extent of coast westward from Mackenzie's River, of three hundred and forty miles; and eastward from Coppermine River, of one hundred aiul eighty miles. The expedition of Captain Back proved that a river fell into the Arctic Ocean at a point nearly due south of Captain Ross's Peninsula of Boothia. Thus, tlien, it remained for the expedition to which my brother was appointed, First. To fill uj) the blank between the ex- treme west of Franklin's discoveries and Point Barrow, a distance of one hundred and seventy miles. But in order to attain this tefra incognita, it was necessary to pass along a line of coast of three hundred and forty miles — the hard-won pro- gress of Franklin during the summer of 182G. Second. To trace the Arctic coast between Franklin's Eastern Extreme, and the gulf (Prince Regent's Inlet) to which entrances had been proved to exist from Baffin's Bay by Barrow's Straits, and from Hudson's Bay by the Straits of the Fury and Hecla — a distance of four hun- dred miles. To attain this wide field of explo- THOMAS SIMPSON. 17;} ration, it was necessary to pass along a line of coast of one liunHrecl and eighty miles, the discovery of wliich was effected by Franklin's first and disastrous expedition. These objects were fully accomplished through the exertions and energies of my brother — ex- ertions often impeded — energies ro])re8sed by the unfortunate and ill-judged addition to the ex- pedition, which ho himself planned, of a senior officer. MR. RICHARD KINGS PROJECTED EXPE- DITION. Mr. Richard Kino, who accompanied Captain Back in the capacity of surgeon, and whose pub- lished narrative leaves no doubt that he disap- proved of his commander's proceedings, was very active in calling public attention to Arctic disco- very during the winter of 1835-6. Several })ublic meetings, with the view of effecting, through public subscriptions, an enterprise which the Go- vernment seemed to have given over in despair, were held in London, under respectable auspices : and Mr. King not only volunteered to conduct an expedition for this purpose, but had even made arrangements to start for America in the spring of 1836, which failed from some unex- plained cause. I! iifi %. 'J^, ^°^, ^> IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // ^ ^^<^ 1.0 I.I m Si Ui IM IL25 i 1.4 1.6 Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 &j O^ ^ 174 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF Mt. King's plan was to start from Montreal in thfe spring of 1836, in a bark canoe, manned by six men, hired for the expedition in Canada. To fol- low the usual route to Athabasca Lake, and thence to convey his canoe through a chain of small lakes and portages (never yet explored, though known from Indian report to exist) which led from thence to the Fish River. To descend that river for some distance to a point where a tribu- tary joins from the west, the head waters of which he supposed to be near the head wa- ters of Bailie's River, falling into the Great Fish River. At this place he was to winter, in a country abounding (according to Indian report) with Musk Ox, Moose and Rein Deer, Fish, &c. In the succeeding spring the canoe was to be conveyed across to Great Fish River, and the mouth of that river being attained, the survey of the Arctic Coast was to be commenced. There is no doubt that such a chain of communication exists between Athabasca Lake and the Fish River ; and it is now well known that the Fish River is a fine stream flowing into Chesterfield Inlet: but the country between the two rivers is quite unknown ; and the possibility of transport- ing a canoe across it is very doubtful. Admitting that it had been transported in safety, and that the party had reached the mouth of the Great THOMAS SIMPSON. 175 Fish River, it is evident that a bark canoe is quite unfit for navigating the Arctic Ocean ; and Mr. King's progress would, in all likelihood, liave been little greater than that of his late com- mander. Moreover, without the co-operation of the Hudson's Bay Company, the attempt would, most likely, have been futile. Mackay, Sinclair, and all the men experienced in the navigation of the Arctic rivers are in its service ; and no Canadian voyageurs could have been pro- cured in Canada adequate for such an enter- prise. As a self-depending scheme — that is, one not dependent on the co-operation of the Hudson's Bay Company — it was, however, undoubtedly the most feasible that could have been projected. i I 176 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF CHAPTER X. Organization of an Expedition for Arctic Discovery by the Hudson's Bay Company. — Their Reasons for this Step. — My Brother called upon to plan the Expedition. — Plans for Arctic Discovery which he drew up. — " Instructions " founded thereon. — Teaching in Astronomy. — Deficiency of Instruments, and Comments thereon. The projected expedition of Mr. King was not at all satisfactory to the managers of the Hudson's Bay Company. He had made himself very obnoxious to them by severe strictures on their operations, and his return to their country in command of an expe- dition would have been exceedingly distasteful to them : this was one reason for their taking up the subject themselves. Another more weighty reason was the necessity which they felt of doing something to place them- selves in a position to make an application to the British Government for a gratuitous renewal* of * That renewal was obtained in 1838-9 for twenty-one years from 1 842, after much negotiation ; during which the Government made pressing claims for an annual payment in THOMAS SIMPSON. 177 their grant of the exclusive trade of the region which was to form the field of the operations of the expedition. The Morning Chronicle, the best informed of English papers on North American affairs, thus refers to the measures which the Hudson's Bay Company at length took for the completion of the survey of the Arctic coast of the conti- nent. " As to the expense of the expedition, although it must have been considerable, yet, considering that the Company was established for the purpose, among others, of making dis- coveries in the territories granted to them, and in the adjoining country of America, the credit due to them on that score is only that of perform- return for th's renewal, — claims which were waived principally in consideration of the expedition undertaken for Arctic dis- covery. The first grant to the United Company (formed out of the rival North- West and Hudson's Bay) of exclusive trade with the Indians over all the extra-provincial parts of North America was gratuitous for twenty-one years from 1821 ; but it was the intention of the framers of the act, under which that grant was given, that an annual rent should be demanded on its renewal. The words of the act are " from and after the expiration of such first period of twenty-one years, it shall be lawful for his Majesty or successors to reserve such rents in any future grant or licences to be made to the same or any other parties, as shall be decided just and reasonable, with security for the payment thereof; and such rents shall be deemed part of the land revenues of his Majesty." N ■I I I il i iii 178 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF ing the duty under which their charter was origi- nally granted." Influenced by these views, the Directors, in the spring of 1836, instructed their local agent, Mr. George Simpson, to make arrangements for the equipment of an expedition under their own auspices. For the planning and conduct of such an enterprise, no one in their territories was so well qualified as my brother ; and he was at once called upon by Governor Simpson to enter upon it, which he did, not only with zeal and alacrity, but with the highest delight. The purpose of the expedition, as first stated to my brother, was to connect the discoveries of Captains Boss and Back ; and with this view he drew up the following plan for its operations. " Engage, at Norway House, ten good men ;* eight of whom to accompany the expedition to the sea, and two to be employed with a party of Indians, during the summer of 1837, in collecting provisions at the point of rendezvous, for the retreat of the expedition, and for the fall fishing at Fort Reliance. With these ten men, and the requisite outfit (as per list), the expedition should start as soon as possible from Norway House, in two * " Good men " is a term applied in the Indian country to able and willing boatmen. THOMAS SIMPSON. 179 canoes, and overtake the Portage-laJoche boats and get them to embark five bags of pemican each, (say twenty bags,) at He a la Crosse, to be brought on by the Mackenzie River craft to Fort Resolution, and thence by one of the canoes des- patched this fall from Fort Reliance. The canoes to push on to establish Fort Reliance, and to procure the co-operation of a party of Indian hunters there, to be employed in collecting pro- visions during the fall and winter, — to aid in transporting the boat, one canoe, and stores, to the head of Great Fish River in the spring, — to accompany the expedition down that river to Lake Beechey, — there to make a deposit of pro- visions — and, if they can be so induced, to cross over and meet the expedition on their return at the mouth of Back's River. "If, for fear of the Esquimaux, the Indians could not be prevailed on to meet the expedition at the coast, they must remain at Lake Beechey, at a point to be fixed upon, till the return of the expedition from the sea, and accompany it back to Fort Reliance. "This part of the journey to be effected by means of the canoe already noticed, which would be left at Lake Beechey on the descent. These arrangements having been made with the Indians, the party to proceed in their boat with the I i 180 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 1. 1 utmost despatch down Great Fish River to Back's farthest point, where the survey must be renewed. If the expedition find Ross's Strait as supposed, and can reach Back's River by boat the same season, they must proceed on foot, provided with hides to make temporary canoes if necessary, to the appointed rendezvous at Lake Beechey. If they find a peninsula where Ross's Strait is sup- pored to exist, they must either, after examining this peninsula, return as they went; or, being pro- vided with an Esquimaux interpreter, (forwarded from Churchill by the winter express,) if they fall in with that tribe, prosecute their journey during the winter on foot to Back's River, where the same party of Indians who have wintered at Fort Reliance should be appointed to meet them with the requisite provisions for their return early in the spring of 1838. " By the proposed project, it is hoped that that portion of the coast which is most attainable from the interior, and whose delineation is most interesting to science, may be traced in the short- est period, and at the least expense." The scope of the operations of the expedition being subsequently extended, in addition to the eastern survey, to the exploration of the hiatus between the Mackenzie River and Point Barrow, my brother drew up for it the following bold but n THOMAS SIMPSON. 181 well considered plan. The ultimate complete success of the expedition is a triumphant proof of the foresight with which its plans were formed. PROPOSED PLAN OF ARCTIC EXPEDITION, 1836. " Engage at Norway House twelve good men ; start from thence with the Athabasca brigade, with one additional boat manned by eight of the above hands, and the remaining four distributed among the four Athabasca boats. Take on the requisite outfit from Norway House, any defi- ciences in which to be indented for and brought up from York Factory this season, and forwarded next spring by the Portage-la-loche brigade. Embark this season, either at Cumberland or He a la Crosse, thirty bags of pemican, and pro- ceed to winter in the Athabasca district. There make the necessary arrangements with the Dogrib and Copper Indians, to secure their co-operation with an establishment to be formoi next summer at Dease's River, Great Bear Lake. " At the opening of the navigation in 1837, proceed to Great Bear Lake River, in two boats, or one boat and a canoe, manned by the twelve people belonging to the expedition, and two half- breeds or Indians. " From thence despatch the smaller boat or the canoe, with four of the men and the two half- 182 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF breeds or Indians to Dease's River, to erect the establishment and make the fishery. The officers and the remaining eight men to proceed to the coast, and complete the survey westward, from Point Beechey to Point Barrow; thence return to winter quarters at Dease's River. The additional outfit to be forwarded, as already noticed, by the portage brigade in the summer of 1837 — having been brought to Fort Norman, or to the entrance of Great Bear Lake River, it would be conveyed from thence to winter quarters by the expedition on its return from the sea; likewise any pro- visions that could be procured from Athabasca or Mackenzie River. " As early as practicable in the spring of 1838, transport the boat intended for the eastern survey (which should be built at Dease's River during the winter) and the necessary stores across to the Coppermine River, and there embark v/ith eight men as before, leaving the remaining four and the Indians to make provision for the ensuing winter. "The expedition then to proceed direct to Point Turnagain, and continue the survey from thence to the eastward, so as to connect the discoveries of Captains Ross and Back, if practicable; this effect- ed, or when it becomes unsafe to remain longer on the coast, the party to return to the Copper- THOMAS SIMPSON. 183 mine, and make the best of their way back to Dease's River ; to winter there, or at Fort Simp- son, if the season will permit; and the whole expedition to come out to Norway House in the fall of 1839. " Thomas Simpson." The following "instructions," on which the expedition proceeded, (deviating occasionally, how- ever, from them,) were founded entirely on tiiis plan — indeed, are a mere translation of it into official phraseology ; " the rest is all but leather and prunella f ' yet, after the scheme was matured, it was strangely, unwisely, and unjustly deter- mined that the nominal chief command should not be vested in my brother. It was bestowed on Mr. Peter Warren Dease, an elderly officer of the Company, who had accompanied Captain Franklin on his last expedition. The cause alleged to my brother and his relatives for this unfair change was the jealousy which would be felt by the older officers of the Company, were his appointment that of osten- sible commander — a jealousy which it was as- serted (I am loath to admit with justice) would be sufficient to induce them to throw every im- pediment and obstruction in the way of the expe- dition. This was the avowed reason ; but the correct one, undoubtedly, was the unwillingness I m 184 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF of Governor Simpson, springing from personal as well as political grounds, to permit his young relative to attain a position so prominent and independent as that in which the completion, alone and uncontrolled, of the survey of the Arctic coast of America would have placed him. My brother's enthusiasm, when once he had en- tered upon the subject, was too great to permit his being kept back, even by this unlooked for change, although he deeply felt and bitterly re- gretted it. This enthusiasm, it will be abundantly evident, was the sole secret of the complete suc- cess of the expedition; it will be no less evident, from notices in the sequel, that the signer of the " instructions," was quite unacquainted with the nature of the service to be performed, or of the means and measures necessary for its per- formance ; yet to him the honour of projecting the expedition has been largely ascribed ; and to him were awarded the honours consequent on its successful completion. . . ^ INSTRUCTIONS. " Messrs. P. W. Dease and Thomas Simpson. " Norway House, "Gentlemen, July 2nd, 1 836. " By the 79th and 80th resolutions of Coun- cil of this season, copies of which are annexed, li THOMAS SIMPSON. 186 you will observe that we have determined on fitting out an expedition forthwith, for the pur- pose of endeavouring to complete the discovery and survey of the northern shores of this continent. "2. This object has for a great length of time excited the most lively interest in the public mind ; and has baffled the exertions of many en- terprising men, among whom the names of Parry, Franklin, Ross, and Back have of late years appeared conspicuous ; but I trust that the honour of its accomplishment is reserved for the Hudson's Bay Company, through your exertions; and in selecting you for so important a mission, we give the best proof of the high opinion we entertain of your abilities and qualifications for such an undertaking. " 3. The expedition, consisting of twelve men, is now placed under your direction ; and you will be pleased to conduct it without delay to the Athabasca country ; and to pass the ensuing win- ter at Fort Chipewyan or Great Slave Lake, as you may consider expedient : although in my opinion. Great Slave Lake would be the prefer- able wintering ground, as regards the object of the expedition. " 4. At the opening of the navigation in June, you will proceed by boat down the Mackenzie River to Fort Norman, and there leave four men. 186 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF I with directions that they proceed from thence to the north-east end of Great Bear Lake, and there erect buildings, estabh'sh fisheries, and col- lect provisions for the accommodation and main- tenance of the party during the winter of 1837-38. " 5. You will theif go down to the sea with the remaining eight men, and endeavour to trace the co.vst to the westward to long. 156 ° 21', lat. 71° 23' 39" north, whence Captain Beechey's barge returned. Should your progress along the coast be obstructed by ice or fog, as Sir John Franklin's was, you will either put the boat in a place of security, and proceed on foot with all your party, or leave four men with the boat for its protection, while you go along the shore, car- rying a sufficient quantity of provisions with you for the journey. It is desirable to take observa- tions as frequently, and to survey the coast as accurately as possible, without, however, losing time in your outward journey in waiting for the appearance of the sun, moon, or stars, which are frequently obscured by the dense fogs that pre- vail so much on that coast; but devoting as much time to these objects as the season and the state of your provisions will allow on your return. , " 6. At the most westerly point you may reach, you will erect on a conspicuous situation a pillar or mound, and leave deposited in the earth at its THOMAS SIMPSON. 187 base a bottle hermetically sealed, containing an outline of the leading circumstances connected with the voyage. " 7. In suggesting that the boat should be left in the event of your progress being obstructed by ice or fog, I beg it to be understood that that ought not to be done if there be the least pro- bability that by perseverance you may succeed in getting her along shore, as the preservation of the boat 1 consider to be highly essential both to the accomplishment of the voyage, and to the pro- tection of the party ; but if there is no possibility of getting on with the boat, I beg to recommend that you provide yourselves with axes and cordage to make rafts for crossing rivers, and some parch- ment, sheeting, and oilcloths to make a couple of small canoes for the conveyance of the party, should it be found impossible to cross the rivers on rafts, and in order to secure your retreat in the event of the loss of the boat. " 8. Should you not be able to accomplish the voyage or journey during the season of open water, and that you fall in with friendly Esqui- maux or Indians, as many of the party as can be maintained may remain with them, so as to complete the survey in the course of the winter or spring. In this, however, you will exercise your own discretion and be guided by circumstances. ■ »iiiii III 188 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF " 9. It is exceedingly desirable, however, that you should return by open water, so as to pass the winter at the establishment to be formed at the north-east end of Great Bear Lake, in order to make the necessary preparations for another voyage of discovery to the eastward at the open- ing of the navigation in the summer of 1838. " 10. The object of that voyage is to trace the coast from Franklin's Point Turnagain eastward to the entrance of Back's Great Fish River. To that end you will haul your boat across from the north-eastern extremity of Great Bear Lake to the Coppermine River, before the winter breaks up ; and at the opening of the navigation pro- ceed to the sea, and make as accurate a survey of the coast as possible, touching at Point Turn- again, and proceeding to Back's Great Fish River, if the strait or passage exist which that officer represents as separating the mainland from Ross's Boothia Felix ; but, should it turn out on exami- nation that no such strait exists, and that Cap- tain Ross is correct in his statement that it is a peninsula, not an island, — you will in that case leave your boat and cross the isthmus on foot, taking with you materials for building two small canoes, by which you may follow the coast to Point Richardson, Point Machonochie, or some other given spot, that can be ascertained as THOMAS SIMPSON. 189 having been reached by Captain Back, and you will be regulated in determining whether you will return by Great Fish River or by the coast* by the period of the season at which you may arrive there, the state of the navigation, and other circumstances. "11. In order to guard against any privation in the event of your returning by Great Fish River, it will be advisable to make arrangements at Great Slave Lake, that a supply of provisions, with ammunition and fishing-tackle, likewise babiche for snow-shoe lacing, be deposited at Lake Beechey or some other point on that route. " 12. Should you be unable to complete the voyage to the eastward from Coppermine River in one season, you may, as suggested in reference to the other voyage, take up your quarters with the Esquimaux for the winter, so as to ac- complish it the following season. "13. In making your arrangements for both voyages, I have to recommend that a consider- able quantity of pemican and flour, not less than one hundred pieces, be provided for voyag- ing provisions ; and that you be well supplied with materials for constructing small canoes, leather for shoes, and snow-shoe netting, like- wise with ammunition, axes, crooked knives, fishing-hooks, net-thread, backing and setting i 1 I I !r I ^ i ii 190 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF lines, and with warm clothing for yourselves and the people. " 14. The necessary astronomical and survey- ing instruments are provided to enable you to take observations, and to make surveys, in which you will be as accurate as possible ; and you will be pleased to prepare a full and particular Journal, or narrative of the voyage ; likewise a chart of the coast ; and to take formal possession of the country, on behalf of Great Britain, in your own names, acting for the Honourable Hudson's Bay Company, at every part of the coast you may touch, giving names to the different headlands, mountains, rivers, and other remarkable objects you may discover. It is also desirable that you make a collection of minerals, plants, or any specimens of natural history you may fall in with, that appear to be new, curious, or interesting. " 15. You are hereby authorised to avail yourselves, for the use of the expedition, of any assistance whatsoever you may require, at any of the Honourable Company's establish- ments you may touch at, or have communica- tion with, either by letter or otherwise; and the gentlemen in charge of these establishments are hereby instructed to meet all demands you may make upon them. . ^ *' 16. In the event of any accident occurring THOMAS SIMPSON. 191 to prevent either of you from proceeding on this mission, the othe: will be pleased to follow up the object of it, and to avail himself of the assistance, as second in command, of any clerk of the Company he may find within his reach ; and such clerk will be pleased to act in that capacity accordingly. "With fervent prayers for your safety and success, " I remain, Gentlemen, " Your most obedient servant, " George Simpson." The expedition was organized on the foregoing plan, and under the foregoing " instructions," at Norway House, in July, 1836. The complement of men was completed at the same rate of wages as on Captain Back's expedition ^forty pounds per annum). It was unfortunate only in fisher- men. One injured his leg, and was unable to go ; another, a powerful man named Anderson, who had served at Fort Reliance with Captain Back, being seized with a sudden panic, fled into the woods, where he was found after its departure disordered in his mind. His place was filled up by a man subsequently engaged on the route northward. l:-'^ a- -f A supply of trading-goods required to pay Bi: 192 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF the Indians for their services, and for provisions, having been got up from York Factory, and all the other arrangements being complete, Mr. Dease took his departure on the 21st of July for Athabasca, in company with Mr. Edward Smith, the officer in charge of that department, who afforded every possible aid in transporting the goods and provisions destined for the expedition during the long and laborious voyage to Fort Chipewyan, which they safely reached on the 26th of September. At the same time, my brother returned to Red River settlement for the purpose of refreshing his knowledge of mathematics, and receiving instruction in practical astronomy. The knowledge of his instructor was but very limited; but he profited well by this short in- terval of study and practice, as the correctness of his observations and surveys fully testify. This correctness was, undoubtedly, not owing to the excellence or the abundance of instru- ments with which he was furnished, but solely to his own unremitting attention and inflexible perseverance. His original outfit of instruments consisted of little, if anything, more than a sex- tant, compass, and thermometer (a borrowed one). " A valuable gold watch, kindly lent to the expedition by C. F. Edwards Smith," was THOMAS SIMPSON. 193 his sole chronometer : and it was not until the third summer that he had the use of a dipping needle. On the want of this and other instruments he thus writes to Governor Simpson : " I am thus deprived of the means of making magnetical experiments of the most interesting nature; so muchr so that Captain James Ross styles them the * very key-stone ' of his discoveries. I must in candour add that the limited and defective supply of instruments, particularly the want of chronometers, is alike unworthy of the Company's wonted liberality, and of the extent and im- portance of our undertaking." — Again he writes the second winter, "The dipping-needle, &c., have not come to hand. I did not think that in so important, yet as to cost insignificant, item of the expedition account, you could wish to practise such rigid economy, even while in all things else we are keeping down our expenses by every possible fraction." 1 194 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF CHAPTER XI. i^ A Winter Journey of One Thousand Two Hundred and Se- venty-seven Miles from Red River to Athabasca. — Northern Squatters. — A Frontier Fortalice. — Pemican. — An Octo- genarian. — The Secret of Travelling in the Far North. In the afternoon of the 1st of December, 1836, the day he had fixed upon for his long winter journey from Red River Colony to Atha- basca, my brother bade adieu to his kind and much esteemed friend Mr. Alexander Christie, to the worthy clergymen, and the other indi- viduals forming the little society of this Oasis in the desert, all of whom breathed the warmest wishes for his welfare and success. The autumn had been long and beautiful, and the snow had not as yet cast its white mantle upon the earth ; he was therefore obliged to set out with horses and carts, which conveyed their little baggage to the Manitobah Lake. His gay carriole and three sledges followed light, drawn by the dogs and attended by their drivers, chosen men, who completed the little party i THOMAS SIMPSON. 195 bound for the distant north. In this manner they proceeded for three days through a prairie country, studded with a few copses of poplar and dwarf oak. In the shade of these they obtained sufficient snow for their horses and dogs in lieu of water, a luxury not to be found in these arid plains, which, having been swept by the running fires so frequent and terrible in the prairies, presented a blackened and dismal as- pect. In the afternoon of the third day they reached the borders of Manitobah Lake, and procured a night's lodging in the huts of some " freemen," of whom they found eleven families resident there. These people subsist chiefly by hunting and fishing ; they possess a few horses and cattle, enjoy a rude squalid plenty ; and, though separated from their fellow men, seemed to live quite hap- pily. The lake had but recently assumed its icy covering, which, as far as the eye could distin- guish, rose in huge masses, as if forbidding all further progress. So formidable was its appear- ance, that the people endeavoured to dissuade my brother from prosecuting that route; but he resolved to persevere, and dismissing their wheeled vehicles, they soon had their baggage stowed upon the sledges. The carriole intended 2 190 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF for himself lie appropriated to tlie carriage of his books, instruments, &c., and preferred per- forming the whole journey to Athabasca on foot. Two of the young freemen agreed to afford the assistance of their dogs to the Company's nearest post ; and, at each establishment on the route he in like manner procured the aid of a couple of fresh men to accompany him to the next. Then began the flourishing of whips, the shouts of the drivers, and the howling of the refractory dogs — all blending together in one horrible outcry. For some distance they found the ice almost impracticable, but on doubling a point the broken rugged masses gave place to a smooth and glassy level. To walk on such a surface with the mo- cassins, or soft leather shoes of the country, was almost impossible. They were, however, pro- vided with crampets, which they strapped on in the same manner as the Kamschatdales wear their " posluki," or ice-shoes. Thus secured from many an awkward fall, they advanced rapidly, finding it no easy matter to keep pace with the dogs, who, rejoicing in the ease with which they now dragged their burdens, scampered away at a great rate. The 4th, 5th, and part of the 6th were passed in this fatiguing exercise ; at noon on the last day, they arrived at the small trading-point d THOMAS SIMPSON. 197 called Manitobah House, where they were de- lighted to cast off, for the remainder of the day, the galling iron shoes, real instruments of torture, which, long before they had done with them, forced them with groans to acknowledge that their feet were indeed made of clay. Whether he was made of weak flesh and blood, was in some measure put to the test by having a warm couch spread for him in the corner of a large room, round which, on wooden bedsteads, lay his host Richards, his wife, and half-a-dozen grown- up daughters ! Again, next morning, strapping on their un- comfortable running-shoes, they passed at noon through a narrow strait that gives the whole lake the name of " Manitobah," or Evil Spirit ; by which the Saulteaux Indians believe it to have been formerly haunted. According to their ac- count terrible sounds used to be heard here, and fearful sights seen ; among others, huge snakes with horns; and it was not till after the esta- blishment of a trading post by the Canadians (the bold Coureurs du Bois of French Canada,) who with their singing and noise scared the de- mons away, that the natives ventured to pass by the place of dread. The three following days were spent in passing the extent of Winipegoos Lake. Leaving it on 198 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF the evening of the 11th, they encamped in a wood of pines, the first they had yet met with. Their evergreen branches form the favourite bed of the winter voyageur, a comfort they did not fail to enjoy. They were visited in the evening by several Saulteaux Indians, who resort to a neighbouring river. They brought a supply of fresh fish, for which they were liberally paid ; and a share of the travellers' supper, and their news, made the poor fellows quite happy. Here they gladly hung upon the trees their painful iron shoes. The travelling through the wooded country between the Winipegoos Lake and Swan River was heavy and fatiguing. The path was un- beaten and difficult to distinguish, save by the practised eye of an Indian or half-breed guide. The weather was mild and overcast, — unfitted, therefore, for such severe exercise as the use of the snow-shoe imposes; and the lakes and streams which it was requisite to cross, had in many places but a very slender coat of ice. On one occasion, when engaged in a wide traverse, they came sud- denly upon a space of weak ice only an inch thick, and partially covered with water. It was an awkward predicament, for advance they must : they therefore laid themselves upon the sledges, and their weight thus pressing on an extended TIIOMAS SIMPSON. 190 surface, tluur sagacious dogs carried them safely over the danger. Late in tlio evening of the IGth, they reached Fort Pt'lly, aftoi a hard day's marcli of thirty- seven miles. This is a coni])art, well-ordered little place, sheltered from the north by a range of woods with the Assiniboinc River winding a short distance in front. The 17th and 18th (Sunday) were made days of rest ; and Monday's cold might also have formed an apology to lazy travellers for loitering. The thermometer stood at — 44*" (70 degrees of frost,) yet they took their departure early in the forenoon. At night it was so intensely cold, that my brother literally burned his fingers with the sex- tant, while taking the usual observations. " The parching air Burnt frore ; and cold perform'd the effect of fire." Milton. He afterwards adopted the precaution of using very thin chamois-leather gloves, and took obser- vations at still lower temperatures, without in- convenience. This extreme cold, was but slightly modified, during the eleven days which their journey from Fort Pelly to Carlton occupied. Most part of this route was through an open plain country — I- II ! 200 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF ;i the extensive prairie-land stretching from the Saskatchewan to the Missomi River, of which the distinguishing features are barren hills and hollows, tossed together in a wave-like form, as if an ocean had been suddenly petrified while heaving its huge billows in a tumultuous swell. The rough grass of this waste affords, at times, food to countless herds of buffalo ; but they did not fall in with any : indeed, my brother was so bent on making a quick advance, that it may be doubted whether he would have been desirous of meeting those animals, notwithstanding his extreme love for the chase. He kept always in advance of his party, and enjoyed the hare and partridge shooting which the more sheltered parts of the track aiforded. Nor was the produce of his sport by any means an unwelcome addition to the evening meal, for which a twelve hours' hard walk in a freezing atmosphere, gives an appetite which lacks no condiments, and laughs at dys- pepsia. On the forenoon of the 30th of December, they arrived at Carlton, a trading-post situated on the Saskatchewan River. They were greeted by Mr. Pruden, the officer in charge, with a frank and cordial welcome ; and my brother agreed, at his pressing request, to pass the " New-year " holidays with him. II THOMAS SIMPSON. 201 This is a frontier post, much frequented by the Indians of the prairies, and was in past times a very dangerous position. High stockades sur- round the buildings ; at the corners are bastions commanding the several entrances, in which small field-pieces are mounted; and in a gallery surrounding the whole square, there is a con- tinuous range of wall-pieces — all standing loaded and primed. — These form a tolerable security against attack from Indians — who will seldom, even when in overwhelming numbers — attack men whom they see prepared to resist ; yet even the preceding summer, they had several times fired into the place. Twelve servants and two officers form the gar- rison of this little fortalice. A few years be- fore, it was by no means unusual to see one thousand families of Indians encamped around it; but since the ravages of the small-pox, which made fearful havoc among the prairie tribes in the year 1834, the numbers of Indians who fre- quent this establishment has been reduced to one-fourth; and the survivors are much altered and subdued in their bearing. There were but very few Indians at this time at the place ; and these few were " Crees," the most peaceable of the Prairie tribes. My brother was anxious to have had intercourse with those a lit 202 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF tribes, yet almost unaltered by intercourse with white men ; though disappointed in this wish, he heard abundance of anecdotes and tales regarding them, and descriptions of their habits and customs both in war and peace, which when related on the spot, had much of the effect of personal expe- rience and observation. There, in the face of a neighbouring hillock, was the stone which used to be selected as a target, in order to show to ob- serving Indians the effect of the fieldrpieces in the bastion. Here was the hollow where had lodged the ball of some bravo, who, mounting his fiery steed, took a deliberate aim at the sentinel in the gallery, trusting to his rapid flight to escape the well-merited return. Below was the plain on which hundreds of skin-covered wig- wams were wont to be planted round the huge council lodge, wherein the affairs of the tribe were debated with as much earnestness and elo- quence, and with infinitely more decorum than often marks the discussions of the assembly in St. Stephens. Beyond that was the ground on which the young gallants exhibited their ** won- drous horsemanship," trying the mettle of their wild steeds in races which would not disgrace Newmarket; albeit the appearance of a Piegan Jockey, "all painted and plumed in his naked array," his bridle a piece of thong tied round his THOMAS SIMPSON. 203 courser's lower jaw, his saddle a strip of buffalo- skin, would occasion some amazement among his velvet-capped, top-booted brethren of the English turf. Great fires running through the prairies had driven the buffalo to a distance, and at this the usual paradise of fat living,^^ the residents and visitors owed their holiday dainties to the lucky accident of a Cree hunter killing a female moose and her two fawns, within a short distance of the establishment. On the 2nd day of the year, (New Year's Day, being a Sunday) a dance was given in the hall, at which Mr. Pruden's fine family, with all the other inmates, young and old, attended, decked in their gayest attire, and gave full scope to the passion for dancing inherent in all the half-caste natives of this country ; some of my brother's travelling companions were reluc- tantly compelled to abstain from this their fa- vourite diversion, in consequence of having frozen their heels in the cold journey across the bleak prairies. As this is the most extensive manufactory of * 'Tis not alone in Scotland that the complaint might be made^ that " God sends the meat, but the devil the cooks ;*' at these prairie posts the universal mode of cookery is to cut the meat into junks, or slices, and to fry or stew these in tallow ! : 204 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF I pemican, and as that pracand is frequently men- tioned in the subsequent pages, it may be proper to give a short account of the process of manu- facture. It is perfectly cleanly. The meat, which has been cut into thin flakes, and dried in the sun by the hunters, is conveyed to the establishment. It is there pounded in a mortar, or by beating on an extended hide. The fat, is boiled in a cauldron, and skimmed of all impu- rities ; an equal quantity of pounded meat is added to the fat, and the mixture is well stirred, and poured hot into skin-bags. It hardens in a few hours, and is fit either for immediate use, or to be kept for three or four years. There is a superior kind of pemican prepared from a mixture of equal weights of pounded meat (ti bits), marrow fat, and blue-berries: this forms a composition, resembling in appearance a rich plum- pudding, which is very palatable, particu- larly when recently made. As to the nourish- ing qualities of pemican, it is almost unnecessary to give an opinion. Carbon for exhalation, fatty matter for nourishment, nitrogenized matter for muscle, are contained in abundance; but it is an unpleasant diet when taken /?er se. On the 4th of January 1837, my brother started from Carlton, having his i)arty reinforced with fresh men and dogs. The route was now through THOMAS SIMPSON. 205 a wooded country, where more snow had fallen, and consequently the travelling was much better. Seven days of hard marching, marked by nothing out of the usual routine of such journeys, brought him on the evening of the 10th, to the post of Isle a la Crosse. Here he was obliged to wait the arrival of an express soon expected from Athabasca, in case there should be any arrangements to make re- specting the additional supply of goods and pro- visions required for the expedition. His host was Mr. Roderick Mackenzie, a hale old Highlander, who has passed, by at least ten years, the period described by the Psalmist as the scope of man's existence. He has a neat and comfortable little " Fort ;" the fishery in the lake close at hand yields a constant supply of fresh and wholesome food, summer and winter; the little farm is productive, and the few domestic cattle maintained, were in excellent condition. Altogether this northern octogenarian, though placed " far in a wild unknown to public view," is to be envied rather than pitied : his greatest grievance (who is without a grievance ?) is — that his Chipewayan Indians, — who, being the most provident of all the northern tribes, assume the independent tone of warm men, — take a delight in teazing their testy trader by telling him that " he 'ill 206 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF is too old — it 's time for him to go and die in his own country/* As a corollary to the preceding narrative, I give the following extract from my brother's let- ters to myself: — " I quitted my kind friends at Red River, on the evening of the 1st of December; and a walk of two days in summer-like weather, with capital rabbit shooting, brought me to Manitobah Lake. On its slippery young ice we launched our dog- sledges ; and for eight days did we tramp along it and the Winipegoos, obliged constantly to use horrible iron machines called " crampets,'* which we strapped on to our unfortunate feet with leather thongs. We then followed a long and intricate portage of 32 miles, with scarcely a par- ticle of snow, to Swan Lake — tearing work, as my gay curricle found to its cost. This occupied two days through a woody country; and I had time to make fine havoc among the pheasants and partridges, which were very numerous. Changing our course now from north-west to south-west, three days' march along the Swan River landed us at Fort Pelly on the Upper Assiniboine, where I halted three days with George Setter, the post- master in charge — a worthy quaint old fclSw, whom I think you saw at Red River. During THOMAS SIMPSON. 207 our stay there, the weather became intensely cold, the thermometer on the morning of our depar- ture standing at — 44° of Fahr. The severity of the weather was greatly augmented, when we emerged into the wide and unsheltered plains of the Saskatchewan, by a stiff north-wester, which compelled us for two days to muffle up all save our eyes — each lash of which speedily resolved itself in an icicle, and we had every now and then to turn our backs to the blast, and thaw off these optical obstructions with our fingers. The prairies were all burnt, and in consequence we fell in with no buffalo ; but we saw a few tracks of bulls and of moose, when we regained the woods, or rather open bluffs, which form the coun- try along the Bow River. On the banks of this noble stream, one bright morning, we espied four splendid red-deer inhaling the free breeze; but the beautiful creatures took the alarm when we endeavoured to creep towards them through a woody hollow, and, darting down the eminence on which they stood with the speed of lightning, disappeared from our view. The whole journey from Fort Pelly to Carlton occupied ten days ; one of which was labour lost, through a blunder of my guide, that made me resort to chart and compass to recover our proper course. The en- campments were very bad throughout all this part 208 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF of our route ; and we considered ourselves fortu- nate when, at the close of the day, we could find a tolerable poplar hummock, with enough of dry grass to lay our blankets on. My Christmas couch was spread on willow branches; but my new year was spent at Carlton, tripping it on the light fantastic toe with the celebrated Miss Maria Pruden. She is a long lacer, like poor Swanson's flame at Red River, but she stoops confoundedly : her air is awkward, and she wants expression; in other respects, she is a seemly lass enough. Pruden himself is a portly, hospitable John Bull, fond of good eating. 1 passed six days with him, and six more brought me to this place (Isle k la Crosse) on the 10th instant, where I was cordially welcomed, and have since been most kindly entertained by that crabbed but worthy old soul, Roderick Mackenzie. The total distance from Fort Garry is about nine hundred miles ; I have travelled so far (and shall continue to do so) entirely on foot, having regularly surveyed the whole route, and am highly pleased with the extreme accuracy of my astronomical observations, which afforded me much amusement in many a tedious encampment, for, excepting from Carlton hither, we could scarcely ever start before daylight. "This is a nice quiet place, and the Chipewyans, THOMAS SIMPSON. 209 in skill and perseverance as hunters, in foresight and in honesty, present a marked ntrast to the worthless Crees and Saulteaux, among whom I have so long been. We had a merry dance here, and I have been quite the feasted pilgrim ; but my patience is at last run out, and I intend to start this evening, and reach Fort Chipewyan on the 1st of February." On the 20th, the long looked- for couriers arrived, with letters from Mr. Dease, communi- cating the welfare of the expedition. After writing on its affairs to the gentlemen in charge of York Factory, Norway House, and Red River, and being most liberally supplied by his worthy friend Mr. Mackenzie with everything requisite for the journey, my brother took his departure the same night. The route from Isle a la Crosse to Athabasca, was precisely that followed by Sir John Franklin. Adhering to the general line of the summer- water communication, the road was not so readily mistaken as heretofore, and they were able to make a good part of their way during the night, which all experienced snow-shoe travellers know to be less wearisome to the spirits, than broad day, when the traverses of lakes, and long reaches of rivers, are seen in all their tedious extent, and the eyes are oppressed by the glare of snow. , 210 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF This was consequently the most rapid part of his journey : on the preceding part it can scarcely be thought he loitered, seeing that he accom- plished nine hundred and six miles in thirty- four days. Some time before daylight on the 23rd, he viewed a magnificent display of the aurora boreaUsy commencing with an arch of singular lustre in the north, which suddenly flashed up towards the zenith, and represented the interior of a stupendous cone ; the apex and upper part being of a bright yellow hue, while tin lower assumed a very rich carmine colour. Tiiere was scarcely time to examine this resplendent phe- nomenon, when it disappeared. In the afternoon of the same day, he witnessed, while crossing a lake, an extraordinary effect of the mirage caused by the rays of the evening sun. It covered the land to the west with a mist-like veil, and the ice even close around them seemed to dance with a strange undulating motion, as if tossed up and down by a heavy swell. Walking about half a mile a-head of the party, and chanc- ing to look back, the people seemed to him to to be seated on their sledges ; but on arrival at the encampment, when he taxed them with their laziness, they assured him that they had been on foot the whole time, and that he appeared THOMAS SIMPSON 211 to them in a recunibcnt attitude, borne forwai as it were by some unseen power. Travellers whose sole canopy — day and night — is the sky, necessarily see and remark many of Nature's phenomena. On the morning of the 24th, they crossed " Portage la Loche," the dividing height between the waters falling into Hudson's Bay, and those flowing to the Arctic Ocean. The snow was very deep through this formidable barrier, and the weather was heavy and overcast. From the hills on the north side, a thousand feet in height, they obtained that noble view of the Clear Water River, which has been drawn with so much taste and beauty by Sir George Back, though the dark day and the livery of winter were unfavourable to their full enjoyment of the prospect. The Indians sometimes strike off from a point near this Portage, through a hilly, wooded coun- try, direct to Athabasca Lake ; and, as my brother knew that a saving of at least two days might be effected by that route, he was desirous of adopting it : but none of his men had ever followed it ; and, from the report of the natives, they declared it to be impracticable for sledges : they, therefore, turned their faces down the deep and picturesque valley of the Clear Water River. p 2 212 LIFE AND TRAVELS OP This valley is entirely sheltered from the in- clement north and north-west winds ; but its ex- posure to the east usually renders the snow deep and soft, as they found to their cost. The timber here is larger and finer than could bo expected in so northern a region; one of the pines, under the shelter of which they took up their night's lodging, measured three yards in girth, at five feet from the ground. It is a fine country for the chase, and so little frequented in the winter, that it may be re- garded as an extensive preserve. Our travellers, on several occasions, saw moose deer and wood buffalo sunning their fat sides, — a sight suffi- cient to make the mouths of jiemican-eaters water ; but they were beyond reach, and, taking the alarm, quickly disappeared. The declivities of the hills seemed, as they passed along, completely chequered with the tracks of these and smaller animals. Why do not some of our enthusiastic deer-stalkers make afway into this rich preserve f Through the deep soft snows of the valley, fis well as during the whole journey, my bro- ther himself raised the road, — by far the most fatiguing duty, ordinarily taken for alternate hours by the members of a travelling party. The dogs, in fact, were so accustomed to follow him. THOMAS SIMPSON. 213 that, when at any time ho quitted his usual sfation, tliey stopped and kept looking wistfully back ; aud the whips of the drivers failed to inspire them with the same ardour till ho re- sumed the lead, when they testified their satis- faction by straining to keep at his heels, the leader often thrusting forward his black muzzle to be caressed. This fondness usually procured him the close society of a whole posse of them during the night, which, when not extremely cold, was anything but agreeable. In conse- quence of his care and the good treatment they received, half the number that left Red River reached Athabasca, the longest continuous jour- ney ever performed by the same dogs ; the others he exchanged on the route. ( On the 27th, they came to the junction of the Clear Water with the Athabasca River. The mild weather, which had increased the toil of travelling through the deep snows of the val- ley, now inopportunely gave place to bitter cold. A strong north wind blew, driving in their faces a storm of snow, which almost blinded them, and made the long bleak reaches of the Atha- basca doubly dreary. The bitter cold head-wind continued for the four succeeding days ; but fortunately the snow- storm was of h'dt one day and night's duration. 214 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF In the afternoon of the 1st of February, the very day he had lixed on, before leaving Red River, as that of his arrival at his destination, he reached Fort Chipewyan, and was warmly wel- comed by Mr. Smith, the officer in charge of the district of country, and by Mr. Dease, his asso- ciate in the expedition, who had not expected his arrival for more than a month to come. " Thus," writes my brother, " happily terminated a winter journey of one thousand two hundred and seventy-seven statute miles. In the wil- derness, time and space seem equally a blank ; and for the same reason, the paucity of objects to mark or diversify their passage. " The real secret of the little account which is made of distance in these North American wilds is, that there is nothing to pay. Every assistance is rendered to the traveller without fee or reward, while health and high spirits smile at the fatigues of the way." The distances gone over, were as follows : — From Fort Garry to Fort Pelly . From Fort Pelly to Carlton From Carlton to Isle h. la Crosse Isle h. la Crosse to Fort Chipewyan # ■ 1277 46 Ueing a daily average of 28 miles. Miles. Done in days 394 15 276 12 236 7 371 12 THOMAS SIMPSON. 216 CHAPTER XII. Reasons for the Author's Preference of his Brother's Corre- spondence to his Narrative. — Preliminary Arrangements of the Expedition. — Feelings on entering on Arctic Discovery. The most vivid and comprehensive narrative that ever was or ever will be written, the most inflated eulogium ever pronounced, could not arouse one tithe of the same admiration of the supereminent merits of the great captain of the age, as a perusal of his ** Dispatches." The wonderful clearness of his views on every subject that came before him ; the wisdom of his. plans — plans so comprehensive as to em- brace the greatest principles and the minutest details; the energy, promptness, and almost in- variable success which marked their execution, have all been rendered more evident to the world by the publication of these imperishable documents, than they were even by the glorious victories which tranquillized Europe. To say that, in a very narrow and compara- tively very obscure sphere, some, if not all of 216 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF these attributes marked my brother's character and career, will not, I think, be deemed the effusion of fraternal partiality; and the parallel* may be carried still further by stating that his "Narrative"* gives hardly a fair view of his merits and exertions. The high eulogiums which that narrative eli- cited from the public press — eulogiums alike general and unanimous, might induce a belief that a transcript of it into these pages, would be the best method of describing my brother's la- bours and exertions. But a consideration of the following points will, I think, show that such is not the case. First : The narrative was one of the operations of the expedition generally ; the ex- tent of his own services, and the fact that to these services its success was wholly attributable, were, with a proper and necessary modesty, either al- together unrepresented, or represented in a very subdued light. Secondly : the narrative was penned with the view to immediate publication during the writer's lifetime ; and to have ob- truded or represented in any way the peculiar difficulties under which he laboured, in conse- * " Narrative of The Discoveries on the North Coast of America, effected by the Officers of the Hudson's Bay Com- pany, during the Years 1836-39, by Thomas Simpson, Esq." Beutley, 1843. ■ \-' THOMAS SIMPSON. 217 qiience of the arrangements of the body with which he was connected, would have been impo- litic and indiscreet. There is no such restraint binding on me. A complete exposition of the virtues, the talents, and the services of an adored brother prematurely cut off in the pride of youth, and bloom of success, is the task which I undertook in pen- ning these pages ; and to effect this in a manner that can utterly absolve me from all imputa- tion of false colouring, requires — indeed, can only be done by, a selection from his own correspon- dence. It must not, however, be supposed, that a cursory glance at either his narrative or his cor- respondence will give a full view of the labours, fatigues, and privations which he underwent during j^rctic discovery. To this fact an acute critic thus adverts in his notice of the " Nar- rative." " We suspect that the full extent of suffering and privation, or what other people would call suffering and privation, is not fully impressed upon the reader ; because use has so "bred a habit," that whatever may be suffered, appears part and parcel of the laws of nature around them. To navigate an icy and a stormy sea in open boats — to have the sj)ray freeze upon the rigging and the oars in dog days; to 218 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF be reduced to go without fire, either for warmth or cookery ; to wade, waist high, through rivers or arms of the sea, when the thermometer was below freezing point ; to have wet incrust your garments in ice, as with a robe; and lie down in a wet boat, and be frozen to the planks — all look like the extreme of misery to people at home; yet, as long as health lasts, they seem to be excitement; and even during sickness, to be borne as a common lot." The first section of correspondence details the preliminary arrangements of the expedition, and his feelings on entering on Arctic discovery. To the Governor and Council of the Northern Department (of Hudson's Bay). Fort Chipewyan, May 31st, 1837. " Gentlemen, " We have the honour to report on the progress and plans of the northern-discovery expedition since Chief Factor Dease's communication of the 3rd of January. " Mr. Simpson arrived here from Red River on the 1st of February, bringing with him two of the expedition people, and some good dogs, for the projected establishment at Great Bear Lake. "After an anxious consideration of our means, THOMAS SIMPSON. 219 and the services expected from us, we resolved to depart so far from tlie strict letter of your instructions of the 2nd of July, as to descend to the Arctic Sea this summer, with two small boats instead of one of larger dimensions. A craft of the latter description could scarcely be carried over the icy reefs which we may ex- pect to find obstructing our passage along the coast ; nor would a single boat so effectually pro- vide for the safety or the success of our under- taking. The scarcity of timber of any size near the proposed winter quarters, may, besides, render it a matter of importance to bring thither such boats as, if not much injured this season, can be transported to the Coppermine River next spring, and thus serve for both voyages. This measure renders it necessary to employ two additional hands, (whom Chief Factor Smith has kindly provided,) which, for the reasons above assigned, we have no doubt you will sanction. " Join Ritch, with three men, and three Chipe- wyan hunters, engaged for Great Bear Lake, will proceed direct thither to erect the necessary buildings, where they will deposit such goods as we do not require on the coast ; and a portion of the provisions for our eastern voyage in advance. The remainder of these provisions, together with our outfit 6f 1838, amounting to nearly eighty m 220 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF if pieces, will be transported to Fort Simpson by C. T. M'^Pherson, a boat having been repaired here for that purpose ; and this being an object of the utmost importance to our eventual operations, we hope that Mr. M'Pherson has been authorized to employ the new hands destined for Mackenzie's River in conveying that property to the winter quarters of the expedition, as the people there cannot possibly come for it, and the late period at which we may hope to return from the coast, precludes the probability of our being then able to render it to its destination. " No Esquimaux interpreter having been for- warded from Churchill, we shall endeavour to induce one or two of the Loucheux about Fort Good Hope, who understand something of that language, to accompany us this summer along the coast. " We should be wanting in proper feeling were we to close the report of our arrangements thus far, without expressing our lively sense of the obligations which the expedition and ourselves personally lie under to Chief-Factor Smith, for his prompt and liberal compliance with, and even anticipation of, our wants. We leave Fort Chipewyan with boats equipped and provisioned in such a manner as to inspire confident hopes of success in our exertions THOMAS SIMPSON. 221 towards completing the geographical outline of this great continent. "Chief-Factor A. R. Macleod has handsomely volunteered to meet us with a party of Chipe- wyans, at the mouth of Great Fish River in the summer of 1838, and to conduct us from thence to Great Slave Lake. This plan would ensure us a safe retreat when to return along the coast might be no longer practicable ; and we cannot, therefore, too strongly recommend it to your favourable consideration.* "The Athabasca waters are uncommonly low ; but a mild winter, succeeded by a mild spring, gives fair promise of an early navigation ; and to-morrow we take our departure with the view * Mr. Macleod was (he died in 1 840) a fine specimen of the voyageur of the old school — hardy, enterprising, delight- ing in rather than shrinking from privation and fatigue, — a skilful fisherman, an unerring rifle-shot. " Let me have," said this northern rover, " a hundredweight of powder, three hun- dredweight of shot, a blanket, coat, and gun, for each of my Indians, and Til meet you on the coast with provisions enough and to spare." His experience and energy leave no doubt that he would have amply redeemed his promise. The stores of the expedition couldn't furnish such a supply ; its officers had no authority to appropriate Mr. Macleod to their pur- poses ; they wrote (as we see above) however, recommending the acceptance of Mr. Macleod's spirited offer, but " cold, faint-hearted doubtings " rose in the minds of those to whom the application was addressed ; and they declined it on the plea of want of authority. Ul:«^^ 222 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF of reaching the sea at the latest on the 1st of July. " With the highest respect and regard, " We have the honour to be, Gentlemen, " Your most obedient servants, " P. W. Dease. " Thomas Simpson." Letter to Governor Simpson. • Fort Chipewyan, May 31st, 1837. " Dear Sir, " As we are on the eve of our departure for the polar regions, I seize the opportunity of address- ing you, in the hope that you have by this time safely reached the shores of Lake Winipeg. "The winter was mild wuth little snow, the spring has been pleasant though lingering, and the waters are very low. " I have now been four months here, but have not spent that long interval unprofitably ; and my astronomical observations, I am glad to find, correspond exactly with Captain Franklin's. My walk from Red River has invigorated me in body and in mind ; and the mere " office man " is laid aside for a sphere of action more congenial to both my taste and my acquirements. Though deprived of the command after it had been first held THOMAS SIMPSON. 223 out to me, and was, I think, my due, yet I enter on this enterprise with confidence and alacrity. It holds out to my imagination the prospect of realizing some, at least, of the romantic as- pirations which first led me to the New World, and disappointment has given place to ardent hope. There is but one painful thought which mingles with and clouds that feeling — it is that if it be my fate to perish on this expedition, my mother will be left in comparative indigence ; yet I trust that in such an event the Company, with their usual high sense of honour, would make an adequate provision for her. I know not whether my brother still remains in the service or has embraced some more promising line of life: but wherever his lot may be cast I feel satisfied, from my high opinion of him (which detraction has only served to enhance), that he will do well. " We have received Captain Back's journal by the winter express. It contains, indeed, little thought, with no small portion of French sen- timentality and self-admiration ; but, altogether, I think that he has made the most of his subject, which was not a fertile one. , " Mr. Christie has forwarded to Mr. Dease an extract of a letter from Governor Pelly, stating that Captain Back's present voyage of discovery J 224 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF ^^ was not to arrest or interfere with any expe- dition which you might have set on foot for the same object. This is most gratifying to us, and our utmost energies shall be put forth to reach the " Pole " * first ; or at least to win a share of the prize. I hope that you have, this spring, ordered out Captain Ross's Journal, and the additional instruments &c., requested by me, as they are all essentially necessary. I have procured from two intelligent Chipe- wyans a minute chart of the routes by the " Thelewdessey," and the Kasandessey, or White Partridge River, from Athabasca Lake to Ches- terfield Inlet, into which, beyond a doubt, they empty their waters, after flowing respect- ively through the Doobaunt and Yath-kyed Lakes of Hearne. The latter stream is rapid, and navigable only for Indian canoes; but the former is described as broad, "eep, and interrupt- ed by only one cataract, below which the Chipe- wyans had their friendly rencontre with the Esquimaux last summer. There is said to be but one considerable portage of about two miles in the whole route, — which were it properly, explored, might at some future time prove the most eligible channel of communication * The magnetic Pole, is of course meant. THOMAS SIMPSON. 225 between the Northern Districts and Hudson's Bay. "T think it fortunate that Mr. Dease deter- mined on wintering at this place, which pos- sessed a blacksmith, and many other means for the building and complete equipment of our boats, and the supply of other wantages, which Great Slave Lake could not have afforded. The abundant fishery, too, enabled Mr. Smith to keep the people concentrated ; and much useful work has in consequence been got through, which could not have been done had they been scattered about searching for subsistence. Besides it is here, of course, that our whole stock of pemican for this summer can be embarked. The requisite arrangements for the transport to Great Bear Lake of our supplies for 1838, are detailed in the public letters ; and the substitution of two small boats for a larger one this season is a measure that will materially contribute both to the safety, and to the success of the expedi- tion. * * # # " With sincere best wishes, " I have the honour to be, dear Sir, "Ever yourL faithfully, " Thomas Simpson." , i 220 LIFE AND TRAVELS 01' EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS TO THE AUTHOR. Red River, November .'30th, 1836. " I myself would have been ere now tliorough- ly disgusted with this service, had not a ray of light shone, all of a sudden, upon my path, in the shape of a mission to the Arctic regions, where, having shaken off the trammels of pounds, shillings, and pence, I hope to achieve something worthy of the education and talents bestowed upon me. In previous letters, T described to you our plan of operations ; and, to-morrow, I depart on my long and uncertain journey. My only ap- prehension now is, that Captain Back's proposed expedition in H. M. S. * Terror,' to Repulse Bay, (which I saw noticed in one of the last Albions^) may interfere with our eastern voyage ; but I am uncharitable enough to wish that the same ice which has prevented the Prince Rupert from reaching York, may have also shut out the gal- lant captain, in which case we shall endeavour to save him all further trouble. "Since my return from Norway House, my time has been chiefly devoted to astronomy, surveying, and chart drawing ; my old mathe- matics were more readily polished up than I anticipated ; and I have all those branches now at my fingers' ends. I have, likewise, read a THOMAS SIMPSON. 227 good deal, witli the Ijopo of getting rid of the stirt* and ungraceful stylo of Rupert's land cor- respondence, which is still jarring in my ears, and marring the freedom of the pen that may ere long have to figure before the public. " For our poor mother's sake, even more than my own, I pray for success in my present enterprise. But I know, that if the worst hap- pen to me, you will cherish her; for she will then doubly need your afTcctionatc support." Fort Chipewyan, May aist, 1837. " The waters are very low, which has retarded the final disappearance of the ice ; but we arc now ready for a start to-morrow. We have two excellent boats for the coast — light, and of light draught, each adapted for six men ; besides a third of larger dimensions for Great Bear Lake. We are thoroughly provided with provisions, clothing, and every necessary ; confident in our- selves, and in our arrangements, we look up to the Ruler of the elements for a successful issue to our undertaking. Captain Back's present * terrific * voyage is not to interfere with ours ; and we are in high hopes of reaching the Pole first, perhaps dining there together. His book is a painted bauble, all ornament and conceit, and no substance. Q 2 228 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF " Hurrah for a Husky wife ! I have got the portrait of mine at full length in Captain Frank- lin's last voyage. Our worthy mother favoured me with some lengthy strictures respecting In- dian connexions. What would she say to see me figuring by-and-by with a young Esqui- maux wife, and a pair of urchins in her boots ?'* 1 :• I I THOMAS SIMPSON. 229 CHAPTER XIII. Expedition from Mackenzie's River to Point Barrow. — Sum- mer 1 837. — Letters to the Directors of the Hudson's Bay Company, Governor Simpson, and the Author. — Opinions of the Press in regard to the Expedition's first Operations. LETTER TO THE DIRECTORS OF THE HUDSON S BAY COMPANY. Fort Norman, September 5th, 1 837. " Honourable Sirs, " We have now the honour to report the com- plete success of the expedition this summer to the westward of Mackenzie's River. " Our arrangements up to the departure of the expedition from Fort Chipewyan were stated in full to Governor Simpson and the Northern Council, who, no doubt, communicated them to your Honours ; we shall, therefore, present a brief detail of our subsequent operations. " On the 1st of June we quitted Fort Chipe- wyan, with two small sea-boats, accompanied by a luggage-boat and a party of hunters, for Great Bear Lake ; visited the salt plains, and arrived at Great Slave Lake on the 10th, where 230 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF we were detained by ice until the 21st. The same cause prolonged our passage across that in- land sea, and, having been for two days stopped by a strong contrary wind at the head of Mac- kenzie's River, it was the 1st of July when we reached Fort Norman. Our Indians cast up on the following day, and the crews and cargoes were finally divided and arranged. Our boat- builder, John Ritch, received his instructions to proceed immediately, with a fisherman, two other labourers, and the hunters, to Great Bear Lake, and at its north-eastern extremity to erect our winter-quarters, and lay in a stock of provisions against our return from the coast. We then took our departure, and on the 4th reached Fort Good Hope. There we found an assem- blage of Hare Indians and Loucheux. The latter informed us that three of their tribe had been killed, and a fourth severely wounded by the Esquimaux in the preceding month, which at once put an end to our intention of procuring an interpreter from among them, although several volunteered to accompany us in that capacity. They at the same time earnestly cautioned us to beware of the treacherous arts of their ene- mies. On the 9th of July, we reached the ocean by the most westerly mouth of the Mackenzie, which Sir John Franklin sought for in vain. THOMAS SIMPSON. 231 ■3 It is situated in lat. 68° 49J' N., long. 136° 37' W., and perfectly answers the description which the Esquimaux messengers gave of it to that officer when they came to apprise him of the intended attack by the Mountain Indians. " We had proceeded but a short distance to sea- ward when a party of nineteen men came off to us from Tent Island. We gave each of them a small present, a practice which we continued throughout the voyage, and employed our vo- cabularies to the best of our ability, and to their great surprise, to explain the friendly feeling of the whites towards their tribe. Being a lively and communicative people, we in the course of the season acquired some facility in our inter- course with them, and when words failed, signs supplied their place, so that we seldom expe- rienced much difficulty in making ourselves un- derstood, or in comprehending their meaning. When indulged, however, they always became daring and excessively troublesome, and they were ever on the look-out for plunder. On this first meeting they made several unsuccessful attempts in that way ; and it was no easy matter to induce them to return to their camp after we had finished our business with them. They said, they wished to accompany us to our encampment, where they would have soon been joined by fresh 232 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF parties ; and we had a shoal and dangerous na- vigation before us that night. We therefore peremptorily ordered them back ; but it was not until we fired a ball over their heads, that they put about and paddled off. A storm soon after arose ; but we made the land in safety the follow- ing morning at Shingle Point, in lat. ()9°, where we were detained until the 11th. The thermometer had already fallen to 4&° (Fahr.), being 30° lower than on the evening we left the Mackenzie River ; and, instead of the bright and beautiful weather we enjoyed in our descent of that noble stream, we were now doomed to travel in cold dense fogs, which enveloped us during nearly the whole of our progress along the coast. But, although they perplexed and retarded us, we never allowed them to arrest our course; nor did we ever throughout the voyage encamp, but when compelled to do so by ice or contrary winds, to which line of conduct may, under Providence, be ascribed the early and successful accomplishment of our undertaking. In the af- ternoon of the 11th of July, we reached Point Key, where we were detained by a compact body of ice, occupying Phillip's Bay, until the I4th. There we were visited by another party of Esquimaux, whose tents were pitched at no great distance from us. They live in the coun- THOMAS SIMPSON. 233 try, bordering on Babbage River, and informed us that, except when flooded by the melting of the mountain snows, it is an insignificant stream, not fifty yards in breadth : of this we had ocular proof in a clear day on our return. A hand- some flora was collected in this neighbourhood. Having found a passage through the ice in Phil- lip's Bay, we reached Herschel Island the same evening, (14th July), and had intercourse with other parties of the natives, who were pretty nu- merous along this part of the coast. We found on the island the skull of a whale eight feet in breadth ; and whalebone is everywhere an ar- ticle in extensive use among the natives, es- pecially for the making of their nets, and the fastenings of their sledges. We continued our route before an easterly wind, along and through the ice, with very little interruption till two A.M. of the 17th, when an unbroken jiack, ex- tending to seaward, made us seek the shore in Camden Bay, near a considerable camp of Es- quimaux. As soon as the fears of the latter were removed, an amicable meeting took place ; and, having made them the usual presents, we purchased a good many of their mouth orna- ments, weapons and other articles, which will be forwarded in due course to the Hudson's Bay House. Three of the men were remarkable for ■■ 234 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF their good looks, upright figures, and a stature of from five feet ten to six feet. They gave us a specimen of their dances, and one of them afterwards won the palm from all our people at leaping. They informed us that they have two sources of trade ; the first and most regular with their countrymen, who come annually from the westward ; the other with the Mountain In- dians, who use fire-arms, and travel a great way across land from the direction of the Russian settlements. They showed us the knives, iron- kettles, beads, and other things thus procured, which we have no doubt are of Russian manu- facture. Their means of repayment appeared to us very limited, consisting in seal-skins, whale- bone, ivory, and a few inferior furs, viz., wol- vereens, foxes, and musk-rats. A pair of indif- ferent beaver gloves was purchased from them, which they had probably procured from the Mountain Indians, for we saw no other symp- tom of the existence of that valuable animal near the coast, though it doubtless abounds at some distance up the large wooded rivers which we subsequently discovered. In the afternoon, there appeared a narrow lane of water stretching outwards, and we immediately embarked. We had advanced about three miles from the land, when the ice suddenly closed upon us, before a THOMAS SIMPSON. 235 1 strong north- east wind ; one of the boats got squeezed, and it was only by throwing out the cargo upon the floating masses, that she was saved from destruction. By means of portages made from one piece to another, — the oars serving as bridges, — the cargo was all recovered, and both boats finally hauled up on a large floe, where we passed an inclement and "'••"ious night. Next morning the gale abated, iiie ice relaxed a little around us, and by a long circuit we regained the shore, about a league to the eastward of our former position. There we were detained till midnight of the 19th, when a favourable wind enabled us to round the body of ice at a distance of four miles from the land ; and, con- tinuing, carried us on the 20th into Foggy Is- land Bay. There we were stopped by the ice and a violent north-east wind until the 23rd, having on the preceding day made an ineffectual attempt to weather Point Anxiety, in which we narrowly escaped, with a thorough drenching. The latitude ashore was 70° 10'. From this situation we had the satisfaction of discovering, during aclear afternoon, a range of the rocky mountains to the westward of the Romanzoff chain, and not seen by Sir John Franklin ; but, being within the limit of his survey, wc called it the * Franklin Range,' as a just tribute to his character and merits. i 236 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF On the 23rd we again set sail, rounded the pack of ice, which extended six miles to sea- ward from Yarborough Inlet, then, abrui)tly turn- ing in, we supped near Return Reef, and the survey commenced. "Return Reef is one of a chain of reefs and islets which runs for twenty miles parallel to the coast, at the distance of about half a league, af- fording water enough within for such light craft as ours; the mainland is very low. From 'Point Berens* to * Cape Halkett' (named after two members of your Honourable Board) it forms a great bay, fifty miles broad by a third of that depth, which in honour of the Deputy-Governor was named 'Harrison's Bay.' At the bottom of this bay another picturesque branch of the Rocky Mountain range — the last seen by us — rears its lofty peaks above these flat shores : we called them ' Pelly's Mountains,' in honour of the Governor of the Company. At their base flov/s a large river, two miles broad at its mouth, which we named after Andrew Colville, Esq. This river freshens the water for many miles, and its alluvial deposits have rendered Harrison's Bay so shallow, that it was not till after a run of twenty-five hours, during which we had repeatedly to stand well out to seaward, that we could effect a landing on a grounded iceberg, nine miles to THOMAS SIMPSON, 237 the south-west of Cape Ilalkett. A north-east gale kept us there the whole of the following flay. The country extending to the foot of the mountains appeared to consist of plains covered with short grass and moss, the favourite pasture of the reindeer, of which we saw numerous herds. Observations were obtained, determining our po- sition to be in lat. 70° 43' N., long. 152° 14' W. ; variation of the compass 40° E. Next morning (26th July) the tide rose nearly two feet at six AM., and enabled us safely to cross the shoals. At no great distance from our encampment we passed the mouth of another large river, one mile broad, whose banks were thickly lined with drift timber. We named it the * Garry,* in honour of Nicholas Garry, Esq. Cape Halkett forms the extreme point of a small island, sepa- rated from the main shores by a narrow channel too shallow for boats. Its situation was likewise found by observation to be in lat. 70° 48' N., long. 151° 55' W. It appears to be a place of resort to the Esquimaux, for we found a spot where they had been building their baidars last spring. We suppose them to have been part of a very large camp, which we saw in the bay of Staines River, as we sailed past the east end of Flaxman Island on the 20th of July; that this camp consisted of the western traders of that ST , Hi -- 238 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF tribe, on their annual journey to meet their eastern brethren at Barter Island ; and that we missed them on our return, from the circum- stance of their being then dispersed along the rivers, lakes, and in the skirts of the mountains hunting the reindeer. "From thence the coast turned suddenly off to the west-north-west. It presented nothing to the eye but a succession of low banks of frozen mud. The ice was heavy all along, but there were narrow channels close to the shore ; the soundings on these averaged one fathom on sandy bottom. In the evening we passed the mouth of a considerable river, which was named after William Smith, Esq. From thence, for about six miles, the coast-line is formed of gravel reefs, near the extremity of which, at * Point Pitt/ (called after another member of your Honourable Board,) the land trends more to the westward. The ice lay much closer here ; nume- rous masses adhered to the bottom under the water, which obliged us to search for a passage out from the shore. The night was dark and stormy, and we were in considerable danger; one of the rudders gave way, but we at length effected a landing on a place near an immense reindeer pound. This was ingeniously formed by the Esquimaux with double rows of turf, set THOMAS SIMPSON. 230 - up on a ridgo of ground enclosing a hollow four miles by t\?o, the end farthest from the beach ter- minating in a lake, into which the unsuspecting animals are driven, and there despatched with spears. The vegetable soil in this vicinity was barely four inches in depth, beneath which the clay was frozen as hard as rock, so that our tent pickets could not bo driven home. The men had to go a good mile to find a log or two of drift-wood for fuel, the scarcity of which essential article is doubtless the chief cause of the want of inhabi- tants along so great a portion of the coast. We were detained at this place till the following afternoon (27th), when the ice opening a little, enabled us to resume our route. It blew a cut- ting blast from the north-east, and the salt water froze upon the oars and rigging. * Point Drew,' called after Richard Drew, Esq., seven miles dis- tant from our last encampment, is the commence- ment of a bay of considerable size, but extremely shallow, and much encumbered with ice, in push- ing through which the boats received several blows; and we had on this, as on many other occasions, to admire their excellent workmanship. To seaward the ice was still smooth and solid, as in the depth of a sunless winter. At midnight we reached a narrow projecting point, across which the peaks of some high icebergs appeared, I Ul iftv' ' '1 240 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF and wcro from a distance tiilstakon for lodffOR of the natives. This point we named 'Capo George Simpson/ an a mark of respect for our worthy governor. It was destined to be the limit of our boat navigation, for during the four following days we were only able to advance as many miles. The weather was foggy and dismally cold, the wild fowl passed in long flights to the westward, and there seemed little prospect of our being able to reach Point Barrow by water. * Boat Extreme' is situated in lat. 71° 3' N., long. 154° 26'' W. ; variation of the compass, 42° E. " Under the above circumstances Mr. Simp- son undertook to complete the journey on foot, and accordingly started on the 1st of August with a party of five men. They carried with them their arms, some ammunition, pemican, a small oiled canvas canoe for the crossing of rivers, the necessary astronomical instruments, and a few trinkets for the natives. It was one of the worst days of the whole season, and the fog was so dense, that the pedestrians were under the necessity of rigidly follo>ying the tortuous outline of the coast, which for twenty miles formed a sort of irregular inland bay, (being guarded with- out by a series of gravel reefs,) the shore of which was almost on a level with the water, and inter- sected innumerable salt creeks, through which THOMAS SIMPSON. 241 tl)oy wa(l(3» readily took charge of a letter addressed by Mr. Simpson to them, or to any other whites on the western coast, containing a brief notice of the proceedings of the expedition. To the north- ward, enormous icebergs covered the ocean ; but on the western side there was a fine open chan- nel, which the Esquimaux assured the party extended all along to the southward ; and so inviting was the prospect in that direction, that, had such been his object, Mr. Simpson would not have hesitated a moment to prosecute the voyage to Cook's Inlet in his skin canoe. The natives informed him, that whales were numerous to the northward of the Point ; and seals were everywhere sporting among the ice. These Es- quimaux were well clothed in seal and reindeer skins; the men all used mouth ornaments; and the "tonsure'' on the crown of the head was univei*sal among both men and boys ; the women had their chins tattooed, but did not wear the lofty top-knots of hair v/hich are fashionable to the eastward. They were very inquisitive about the names of our party, and equally communica- tive of their own. A number of their words were taken down, some of which are different from the corresponding terms given by Sir Ed- ward Parry, but the greater part are either the same or dissimilar only in their terminations. THOMAS SIMPSON. 247 They lay their dead on the ground, with their heads all turned to the north. There was nothing else either in their manners or habits remark- ed as differing from the well-known charac- teristics of the tribe, except an ingenious and novel contrivance for capturing wild fowl. It consists of six small perforated ivory balls, at- tached separately to cords of sinew three feet long, the ends of which being tied together, an expanding sling is thus formed, which, dexter- ously thrown up at the birds as they fly past, entangles and brings them to the ground. " Mr. Simpson could not learn that there had been any unusual mortality among this part of the tribe, and is of opinion that the concourse of natives who frequent Point Barrow at differ- ent periods of the year, coupled with the cold- ness of the climate, sufficiently account for the numerous remains already noticed. It was high water between one and two o'clock a.m. and p.m. ; the rise of the tide was fourteen inches; and the flood came from the westward. Observa- tions were obtained which determined the ])osi- tion of the landing-place to be in lat. 71° 23^' N., long. 156" 20' W., agreeing closely with the observations of Mr. Elson. Then, bidding adieu to their good-humoured and admiring entertain- ers, the party set out on their return. They m ';* M 248 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF i5| ^ were arrested that evening by the ice ; but next morning, (August 5,) it opened and allowed them to proceed. At a late hour they reached the camp of the Esquimaux in Dease's Inlet ; and, after liberally recompensing them for the loan of their canoe, directed some of the men to fol- low to Boat Extreme, where it would be left for them. Then continuing their route all night, at five A.M. on the Gth, the party rejoined the main body of the expedition. " We commenced our return the same after- noon and, being favoured by a light wind, and an almost open sea, we sailed all night ; and, next day, (August 7,) at noon, reached Cape Ilalkett. We then steered across Harrison's Bay : the wind increasing to a gale we shipped much water, but persevering, under treble-reefed sails, at three P.M. of the 8th, we landed safely at * Fawn River," within view of the point where our sur- vey commenced. The position of this encamp- ment was ascertained by good observations, to be in lat. 70° 25' N., long. 148° 25' W. The gale having moderated, we re-embarked the fol- lowing afternoon ; and, running without intermis- sion before a fresh breeze, we reached Demarcation Point to breakfast on the 11th. Several showers of snow fell during this run, and it was piercingly cold. The Romanzoff and British mountains had THOMAS SIMPSON. 249 assumed the early livery of another winter. The ice in Camden Bay was still very heavy ; but it protected us from the dangerous swell to which we became exposed after passing Barter Island. Soon after leaving Demarcation Point, the ice became so closely wedged, that we could no longer pursue our way through it. The follow- ing day, (August 12,) it opened a little, and the weather becoming fine, we put out and advanced for a few hours, when the mountainous swell and heavy ice obliged us to seek the shore, which we reached with some difficulty, between Backhouse River and Mount Conybeare. There we were de- tained until the 15th. The icebergs which begirt the coast were of great size, and of every imagina- ble shape ; but from the summit of a hill, six miles in land, we had an unbounded prospect of the blue ocean stretching to the north. The pasture in the deep valleys among the mountains was luxuriant ; herds of reindeer were browsing there, and we procured some venison. In the night of the 14tli, the stars and aurora borealis were first visible. The following morning we resumed our route, and the weather continuing nearly calm, we reached the western mouth of the Mackenzie on the 17th, and there encamped. The first Esquimaux seen during our return from Boat Extreme, were at Beaufort Bay, but from 1* il 260 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF thence to tlie vicinity of the Mackenzie, we were continually falling in with small parties, many of whom we had seen on the outward voyage. We maintained a friendly intercourse with them all, and they were very anxious to know whether we were soon to visit them again. The habitations on Tent Island were abandoned in consequence, we understood, of an alarm that the Loucheux meditated a descent to revenge the murder of their friends. " We have but few general remarks to add to the foregoing narrative. The tides all along the coast were semi-diurnal; the flood coming from the westward. The rise, however, was strongly affected by the winds and ice ; and our opportunities of observing were but few. At Boat Extreme, the average rise was fifteen inches ; high water from one and to two o'clock, A.M. and P.M. The rise generally decreased to the eastward ; and at Point Kay it was only eight or nine inches. That the main sea is clear and navigable by ships during the summer months the long rolling swell we encountered on our return, and the view obtained from the moun- tains, furnish tolerable proof. We likewise saw some whales on our return. The prevalence of east and north-east winds during the early part of the summer is a remarkable fact. We ■ i, THOMAS SIMPSON. 251 were indeed favoured by a westerly wind for five days on our return; but this was almost the only exception. At a more advanced period of the season, however, the winds blew more from the west and north-west. It is now cer- tain that from Kotzebue's Sound to Cape Parry, there is not a harbour into which a ship can safely enter, but it must be a very unpropitious season that would not admit of achieving that portion of the Arctic navigation ; and another year ought certainly to suffice for the remainder, whether the voyage were commenced from Bar- row's, or from Behring's Strait. On this sub- ject, however, we shall be better able to offer an opinion if successful in our next summer's operations. " The natural history of the coast from Return Reef to Point Barrow, is meagre in the extreme. In the botanical kingdom, scarcely a flower or moss was obtained in addition to the collection made on other parts of the coast. In zoology, reindeer, arctic foxes, one or two limmings, seals, white owls, snow buntings, grouse {Lagopus sa- licite et rupestres), and various well-known spe- cies of water-fowl, were the only objects met with ; while in the mineralogical department there was not a rock in sittt or boulder-stone found along an extent of more than two hun- u » 1 252 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF dred miles of const. The variation of the coni- j)ass was found to have increased from one to three degrees at the corresponding ])oints where observations had been made by Sir John Frank- lin. At Boat Extreme, on the other hand, it was only twenty-one minutes greater than tliat stated by Mr. Elson at Point Barrow, where, by continuing the proportion, the quantities would coincide. The moon was never once visible during the whole outward and homeward voyage, till our return to the western mouth of Alacken- zie, where a set of distances was obtained, and the longitudes of the other points reduced back from thence by means of a very valuable watch, generously lent to the expedition by Chief-Fac- tor Smith. " The map of our discoveries will be prej)ared and transmitted to your Honours in the spring. "Our ascent of the Mackenzie has not been characterised by any circumstance of particular interest. The weather continued calm and beautiful ; and the journey was performed entirely by towing, in which manner we advanced at the rate of from thirty to forty miles a-day. The river has fallen very low, and the fisheries have, in consequence, been unproductive, causing a scarcity of provisions, both at Fort Good Hope, and among the natives. We saw a good many of THOMAS SIMPSON. 2r)3 > «i 4 the Louchoux, i)ut the Ilarc Indians were all dispersed in the interior, searching for subsistence. From the coast up to Point Separation moose- deer were numerous — })eing quite undisturbed ; but from our first falliuf]^ in with the Louehinix, no vestiges of either moose or reindeer have been seen. Wo reached this place yesterday with lialf of our summer's stock of provisions still forthcoming, and are now awaiting with impa- tience the arrival of our outfit and dispatches. "Some Indians from Great Bear Lake have brought us intelligence of the party sent to esta- blisli our winter-quarters. They were stopped in Bear Lake River by ice during the whole month of July ; lost one of their canoes ; and it was not till about the Gth ult. that they passed Fort Franklin, after which they had the prospect of an un- impeded passage across the lake. The continued easterly winds were the cause of this vexatious detention, during which the Dogribs kindly sup- ported our people with the produce of their nets. "Sept. 8. — We have this morning received Governor Simpson's letter, dated London, 11th of November last, and have to offer our lively acknowledgments to your Honours for the interest you have been pleased to express in the success of the expedition, and in the welfare of our- selves and party. f f .**■ \ 254 LIFE AND TRAVELS (W i I " Wo have duly received the,lete success of the expedition — which was dispatched by express couriers from Fort Nor- man on the 10th of September, and which was forwarded, with much alacrity, from post to post, through the Indian Country, reached England only on the 19th of April of the following year (1838), — a proof of the remoteness of the region whence the expedition started. It reached my station at Moose Factory on the 24th of March ; and my delight on receiving the letter whence I extract the following, may easily be conceived. "Fortune and its great Disposer have this season smiled upon my undertakings, and shed the first bright beams upon the dark prosj)ect of a North American life. Yes, my dearest brother, congratulate me, for I, and I alone, have the well-earned honour of uniting the Arctic to the great Western Ocean, and of unfurling the British flag on Point Barrow. " On the 23rd of July we supped on Franklin's Return Reef, and having a noble run across two large bays, (at the bottom of the first of which rose a majestic branch of the rocky mountains washed by two great rivers,) on the 27th we were brought to a final stand by the ice at Boat Extreme, in Ion. 154° 26'. Nearly one third of the distance still remained unexplored. ^ ;f H m ,1 ' ,„.ll 258 LIFE AND TIUVELS OF I and I resolved to complete it on foot, Mr. Dease most handsomely volunteering to remain with the boats, and thus secure our retreat. I took five men with me, and in addition to our arms, instruments, and necessaries, we carried a small canvas canoe for crossing rivers. It was despe- rately cold, and the fog so dense as to be almost tangible. AVe were wet to the waist with wading through salt creeks and shallow inlets, and if our case while marching was bad, in the camp it was infinitely worse. " On the second evening by God's Providence we fell in with the first camp of the Western Esquimaux, and from them I procured an oomiak, or family canoe, with which we crossed some deep inlets and bays that we never conld have walked round; and, being a highly sea- worthy craft, we now carried on through thick and thin, and at 2 a.m. ,of the 4th ult. attained the object of my ardent wishes. We were soon surrounded by a crowd of the natives, to whom Cape North is a place of great resort ; but they were, in appearance, most friendly; and a fine old fellow took charge of a letter to the Russians, briefly noticing our proceedings. The women danced aromui us, and were indefatigable in their blandishments. They are w- s without an exception. The men are a set of lousy. THOMAS SIMPSON. 259 good-liuinourcd, thievish, pinii)ins^ roofues. With- out fire-arms T shouUl be sorry to trust to their tender mercies, notwithstanding their sniilino- physiogs. "I rejoined Mr. Dease at 5 a.m. of the Oth, and we continued our return the same (hiy. We were favoured by a clearer sea, and strong westerly gales, and after a few detentions from the ice and storms we regained the western mouth of the Mackenzie on the 17th of August, after a most successful cruise of thirty-nine days We ran many a desperate risk in that cruize. In Camden Bay we v/ere caught by the ice, three miles from the land, had to throw out our cargoes upon the floating masses to save our sweet little boats, and after making several portages, the oars serving as the perilous bridges from fragment to fragment, we at last got boats and ladings secured on a large floe, wliore we passed a horrible night. On anot^-or occasion, in a vast bay beyond I'tt'irn jRcv^f, we sailed twenty-five hours iii u ^^ense lo;,, thirteen of these out of sight of lasid, before we could effect a landing. We neyv encamped but for ice, or contrary winds, it being constant daylight ; and, when weary, slept by watches in the boats. The thermometer ranged betweou 30^ and W of Fahr., and we wore our wuirer dresses, and s 2 h f.' ' I' '•'•V} s';ii I t1 li 260 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF Esquimaux waterproof boots. Yet with all tliese precautions few of the men escaped without se- vere sore throats. " I am charmed with the scenery of the Mac- kenzie : the weather, after we re-entered it, was beautiful, and ascending with the towing-line at the rate of from thirty to forty miles per day, we reached this place on the 4th instant. I have since been incessantly employed on public dispatcher, which is my apology for this meagre outline ; but you shall hear from me once or twice from winter quarters." The following from the Morning Chronicle, may be taken as a fair exposition of the light in which the success of the expedition was viewed by the world. " The question which has been a geographical problem for upwards of two centuries, — the north-west passage around the continent of Ame- rica, — is at length determined, and we have the satisfaction to lay before our readers, in another colun>ii, an abstract of the Journals of the in- trepid discoverers, by whose enterprise the object has been accomplished, and in the progress of which they have evinced intelligence, activity, and hardihood not inferior to any of those daring and enduring men who have preceded them in the arduous path of arctic discovery. f, 1 THOMAS SIMPSON. 2G1 "Referring our general readers to the manly and unpretending narrative of the gentlemen >vho conducted this expedition, so honourable in the annals of British commercial enterprise we beg leave to point out to our more scientific readers the interest belonging to the geographi- cal, and we may say topographical, questions determined by the observations of Messrs. Dease and Simpson. The fact of the Continent of America being circumnavigated ; the determina- tion of the latitude of its northern extremity, in the attempts to ascertain which so many expeditions of different nations have been un- successful ; the knowledge that the great moun- tain ridge, extending from Magellan's Straits to the most northern parts of the American continent, previously known, actually reaches the shores of the Arctic Sea ; all these are highly interesting discoveries. "The completion of the survey of the North American coast, from the Coppermine river to some part of Hudson's Bay, will be liighly in- teresting as connecting the discoveries and obser- vations of Captains Parry, Franklin, and Back, as well as determining whether Captain Ross's Boothia FelLv is a peninsula or an island ; but looking on the chart at the position of Parry's Melville Island, and Franklin's Point Turnagain, m !.1 1 \ i 1 . y\ ■1 ^ I r 262 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF tlicro can be no doubt of a comn.unication l/f/ sea, whetlier nnviguhh' or not, existing from Baffin's Bay to the westward of tliose points : and there- fore we consider that, although the whole of the northern coast of the American Continent has not yet been actually surveyed ; yet that by connecting the surveys of Captains Franklin and ]3eechcy, or, in other words, completing the survey of the coast from Behrijig's Straits to Mackenzie's River, the qiiestioit of the long-sought north-west passage is at length determined." THOMAS SIMPSON. 203 tft \ e o CHAPTER XIV. Transactions, Autumn 1837 to Spring 1838, detailed in Letters. — Climate of Fort Confidence. — Housekeeping there. "Fort Confidence, September 25, 1837. "Gkntlemen, "After a long and stormy passage across Great Bear Lake, during which we experienced the rigours of winter, we arrived here in safety this evening, in company with the servants and [ndians emph)yed by Chief-Trader Macpherson, to transport our outfit and provisions for the ensuing summer. These people will bo dis- patched back to Fort Simpson to-morrow, and we embrace the op|)ortunity to give you a brief sketch of the summer transactions at this place, and of our prospects of maintenance for tlie winter. " The site Judiciously chosen by John Hitch fol' this establishment is about three miles from the mouth of Dease's River, in a strait formed by a large island with the northern shore of the -'■■'iiiVv, tl • i ■^ 264 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF H !i Lake. He reached here with his party on the 16th ult., and since then has completed a store and erected the shell of* a dwelling-house. " We are concerned to say that the Chipewyan hunters brought from Athabasca have quite disappointed our expectations. After indolently wasting the best part of the hunting season, they are now laid up with influenza, which has been going the round of all the Indians in this quarter. The Dogribs, however, promise to bring us some provisions. In the interval, the nets at the door have supported Ritch and his men, and wo shall immediately make proper dispositions for our winter fisheries, — the most distant of which will be about fifteen miles from hence. " It is most fortunate that we got two small boats built at Fort Chipewyan last spring instead of a large one ; and that we have brought these fine craft safely hither, for there is not in any part of Great Bear Lake, on this side of Fort Franklin, timber fit for the construction of a boat of any description. " We have only to add, that our utmost efforts shall be exerted to achieve the service prescribed us next summer; and we trust that our success will be equal to that with whicli Providence has crowned our labours of this season. THOMAS SIMPSON. 2G5 " The winter may be said to have commenced here, the ground being covered with snow, and the frost already severe. " We shall again do ourselves the pleasure of addressing you by the Mackenzie's lliver March express. Meanwhile, " We have the honour to be, &c., kc, " Peter W. Dease. " Thomas Simpson. " " To the Governor, Chief Factors, and Chief Traders of the Northern Department." ^1^ i 1 1^ TO THE SAME. « Fort Confidence, Jan. 22nd, 1838. " We have now the honour of acknowledging Governor Simpson's letter, dated Norway House June 30th, 1837 ; and received on the 29th of December. " x\t the same time it is our melancholy duty to report the death of one of the bearers — Peter Taylor, — occasioned by a i)ulmonary com- plaint of old standing ; and accelerated, perhaps, by the fatigue of the journey. He lingered a long time after he became unable to advance further, during which he was carefully attended by his companion (a Maskegon Indian named * Le Sourd'), who shot several deer around their encampment, and on the |)oor fellow's decease 'I I a 60 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF interred liis body. This distressing^ event occur- red on a large arm of the Lalce, stretching half- way between Dease's Bay and the Coppermine River, which was first discovered by Mr. Simpson on a hunting excursion some tiiue previous. Le Sourd's track, while vainly searching in Simpson's Bay for the establishment, alarmed a small camp of Dogrib Indians stationed in the vicinity, to such a degree that they fled hither in the utmost terror. Conjecturing the true cause, Mr. Simp- son immediately started to bring relief to th3 strangers ; but, after six days journey, during which he made the circuit of the northern part of that extensive bay, ho returned without being able to trace their retreat. It was at this very date (12-13 December,) that Taylor expired. he Sourd then resolved to retrace his steps to Fort Norman ; but at Cape Macdonell he foitunately fell in with another party of Indians, who conducted him hither, " We have entered on this long relation " in order to preclude the possibility of misrepresen- tation ; as in a late spiteful production we observe, among other calumnies, that the Com- pany's officers are charged with wilfully exposing to starvation the people under their command, — an accusation as false as it is malicious. " In consequence of Governor Simpson's de- THOMAS SIMPSON. 2G7 parturc for Norway House before the arrival of the Athabasca boats, no notice has been taken of our (lispatcli of the Slst of May. It con- tained an offer on the part of Chief-Factor Macleod, to conduct a party of Chipewyans to meet us at the mouth of Great Fish River this ensuing summer, with a list of supplies required for that service. A precaution of this nature was su ^Ir. Dease's letter of the 3rd of January; bui iS now altogether nugatory. While we publicly offer Mr. Macleod the tribute of our thanks for his gallant proposal, we beg to assure the Governor and Council that, though this channel of retreat be cut off, our ardour in the noble cause in which we are engaged knows no abatement. " Notwithstanding the extraordinary severity of last summer, the blank on the westeim coast was minutely explored, as will be seen by the accompanying chart. That part of Governor Simpson's latest instructions, which recom- mends a second attempt in the same quarter, is therefore anticipated ; indeed, from this point such an undertaking would with our means have been quite impracticable, as the ice on Great Bear Lake seldom breaks up till the month of August. But as the coast to the eastward \^^ t I fl IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) k A {./ ,*» '% ^-*k^4t^ 1.0 I.I Ik 150 1^ IM llllE 1^ IIIIIM u ^ 1. IL25 i 1.4 6" I 1.6 V] 7 /A "^jfM. ''^i y Photographic Sdences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 l\ •>^ \\ [v .4^ ^ 6^ ^. .^^ ["o >. ^ ^ 'fT' H 268 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF may present a field for the labours of two seasons, we have availed ourselves of the full powers granted to us by applying to the gentlemen in charge of the Athabasca and Mackenzie's River districts, to forward hither, this ensuing fall, an additional supply of pemican, leather, sledge- wood, dogs, and some articles without which we cannot subsist. Our men have consented to prolong their engagements, if necessary, on condi- tion of their wantages now enclosed to the gen- tleman in charge of Norway House being for- warded to Great Slave Lake by the Athabasca brigade ; for ere the lapse of a fourth year they will all be worn to the buff. For ourselves we make no demands whatever. " The region surrounding this desolate abode is mountainous, stormy, and unsheltered. Both men and dogs are often severely frost-bitten, while traversing it for food. We have tried various winter fisheries, both far and near; but one after another they have failed before the rigour of the cold. One, however, ten miles to the southward, still maintains a few hands ; others are dispersed among the distant camps ; and the few residents are supported by our Chipewyan hunters, and the native Indians. We are happy to add that the influenza at length passed over without occasioning more than one THOMAS SIMPSON. 2G9 or two deaths, and these among the aged; our own people are all in perfect health. *' When we arrived here on the 25th of September, Dease's River was already fast. We were therefore unable to transport our sea- boats by water to the height of land, as we had contemplated. The long and toilsome portage will be commenced by stages in March ; and Mr. Simpson will precede the party for the pur- pose of surveying the most practicable route to the Coppermine River. We propose taking our final departure from this place on the 1st of June. Another opportunity will occur of addressing you before that period. " We have the honour, &c., &c., " Peter W. Dease. " Thomas Simpson." I select the following from a file of dispatches of a similar nature, as evidence of the anxious providence, and minute attention to details, which marked the conduct of this expedition. " Fort Confidence, January 23rd, 1 838. " Dear Sir, " In consequence of a third voyage to the eastern coast in 1839, proposed by us, it became necessary, in order to obtain the consent of our people, to promise them a supply of necessaries # i 't 270 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF • if' 'IP J tM from Norway House, by the Athabasca brigade of this season. A list to that effect is enclosed, which you will be pleased to complete; and we have requested the gentleman in charge of the Athabasca district to transport the property to Great Slave Lake. " We are unfortunately unprovided with a nautical almanac for the year 1839, and unless we can obtain one in time, we shall not consider ourselves justified in venturing our party in an unknown country. We have therefore to re- quest, that immediately upon receipt of this an express be despatched to York Factory, and another to Red River, with the enclosed letters ; and that the book, together with any instruments, &c., for the expedition, be forwarded at any cost, so as to overtake the Athabasca boats; or, if that be impossible, at least to reach us here in the spring of 1839. " Our authority from the Governor and Coun- cil fully empowers us to make the above or any other demands ; while we feel assured that your own good feelings towards the expedition will ensure your particular attention to them. " We remain, " Peter W. Dease, " Thomas Simpson." " To the Gentleman in charge of Norway House." THOMAS SIMPSON. 271 ii EXTRACT TO GOVERNOR SIMPSON. " Fort Confidence, January 29, 1838. Throughout the whole country, last summer was remarkable for its inclemency. We our- selves were detained a fortnight by the ice in Great Slave Lake. Ritch and his assistants were, after they separated from us, stopped for nearly forty days ; and, had it not been for our indomitable perseverance, and my singular jour- ney from Boat Extreme to Cape Barrow, that interesting point would never have been reached; nor could the Company have gained that dis- tinction by any renewed exertions of ours this season from our present position, as the ice of Great Bear Lake, which seldom opens before August, would have presented an insurmount- able barrier to such an attempt. "Winter overtook us during our passage of this vast and boisterous lake in September, and we were threatened with being set fast ; but, by a bold push across from the western to the eastern side, guided by chart and compass, we safely reached our infant establishment on the 25th. Dease's River was already frozen, and our plan of transporting our little sea-boats up its waters to the height of land was therefore unavailing. The climate here is indeed in- if Mi 272 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF Jiiiiii ^4 tensely severe, and the mean temperature of the current month is lower perhaps than any upon record. The bare and stormy character of the country, and the long disappearance of the sun, contribute greatly to aggravate the rigour of the cold. I was, however, determined to inure myself to the worst ; and, in order to eke out our scanty subsistence, spent the greater part of the time until Christmas in hunting excur- sions with various parties of Indians; during which I discovered another extensive arm of this inland sea, terminating nearly east from hence, fully half-way to the Coppermine River. It was somewhere near that bay that poor Tay- lor breathed his last. Had its existence been known to us last spring, it would have been our wintering-place ; although, from its scanty clothing of stunted straggling trees, and its lofty encircling hills, it would have afforded but a very sorry residence. * " It was a month after our arrival here before the houses were habitable ; though very small, they still remain in a miserable unfinished state ; and, from a neglect of the fall fishery, our living was for a long time literally from hand to mouth. Mr. Dease is a very worthy man ; but he is dull and indolent. We live together, old wife and all, on the happiest terms : and I now under- THOMAS SIMPSON. 273 stand that mysterious science — -the management of an inland post — as intimately as if I had spent the last long nine years on the north side of Portage-la-loche. Time flies quickly enough even in this desolate abode ; though, not hav- ing Captain Back's good fortune in obtaining newspapers and periodicals, the rest of the world is dead to us. My stay at the house is, however, drawing nigh to a close, as T intend starting in March to survey the route to the Coppermine, and to mark out the best ground for the boats and baggage to follow. The plan of the portage by stages is entirely my own, and I have every hope of effecting this laborious duty successfully. The provisions saved by the rapidity of our last summer's voyage will meet the heavy consump- tion on the portage without drawing on our sea- stock." ^ EXTRACTS TO THE AUTHOR. " Fort Confidence, Jan. 29, 1838. " My last to you was from Fort Norman in September, announcing our safe and early return from our first glorious campaign : I should say mine, for mine alone was the victory. * '* ' ■ " Our passage of this great and stormy lake in September was long and severe. Winter overtook us, but we safely reached our infant Confidence' on the 25th of that month. The 274 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF country was then covered with snow. Dease's River and all the smaller lakes were fast. The climate is, indeed, intensely cold, the land moun- tainous, and the scanty clothing of stunted and straggling spruce firs confined to the immediate borders of the lake. Both men and dogs got severely frost-bitten while bringing meat across the elevated and stormy region, where there is not a shrub for shelter. Until Christmas, I took my share of all these hardships, accom- panying the Indians on their hunting excursions, and learned to kill my own reindeer. I also discovered another large arm of this inland sea, stretching half way between us and the Copper- mine. " For that river I intend starting in March, to lay down the best route for the transport of our boats and baggage. My stay at the house is therefore very short — too short, indeed, for my literary employments ; but, this first and hardest winter past, I shall probably have time enough. " All our letters despond of our last summer's success, in consequence of the extreme incle- mency of that season, and the Governor tells us to try the western coast again. Ha ! ha ! he forgot that all Great Bear Lake lies in the way, and does not clear out till August. My singular inarch from Boat Extreme to Cape Barrow put ^ THOMAS SIMPSON. 275 the coping-stone to that job. Would that the eastern one were already commenced ! " We have a pretty long lease of night in this quarter, the sun being invisible at the house from the 30th of November till the 12th of January. Our winter fare consists of carriboo and musk-ox meat, whitefish, and an occasional huge trout. We were threatened with starva- tion at the outset ; but, by dint of dispersing all hands, we got over that, and now enjoy abundance. Our buildings are small, as the climate and our means demanded : their position is on a strait opposite a large wooded island, three miles distant from Dease's River, the main feeder of the lake. I have not yet seen another spot where an establishment could have been erected. " When fatigued with writing, chart-drawing, and astronomy, I have a resource which you would hardly have expected here in an excellent little library ; which, besides scientific books, and a regiment of northern travels, contains Plutarch, Hume, Robertson, Gibbon, Shakspeare, Smollett, and dear Sir Walter. It is well that we came so provided ; for our friends have not thought fit to send us any of the publications of the day. " Mr. Dease and I live together on the happiest footing ; his old wife, a little grandchild, and a T 2 ii !.•*' 270 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF 1,1 III! I ■::»'^ strapping wench, a dauglitcr of his brother Charles, joining our mess. Dease is a worth}', indolent, illiterate soul, and moves just as T give the impulse. " With respect to the dangers to be encoun- tered, make yourself quite easy on my account. They are great, indeed, compared with those of civilized life, but really present nothing appalling to people who have traversed the interior of this wild country. Our plans, thanks to my own foresight, are all admirably laid, and can scarcely fail to maintain us in plenty, and to ensure suc- cess. I am no veild theorist, like Dr. King : all my proceedings are based on calculation and knowledge. On that foundation, and a humble reliance on a stronger Arm than man's, do T build my hopes. " I believe I have now run over everything that would interest you from this remotest of white men's dwellings; let us, therefore, turn to friends at home. < " My last letter from our invaluable mother is of the 19th of February, 1837; at which time, in consequence, I suppose, of the Prince Rupert's cut-and-run from York Factory, she had not re- ceived a single letter from me dated in 1836 : yet I wrote her from Red River once or twice during winter 1835-36. I wish there may be THOMAS SIMPSON. 277 fair play in all this. She seems resigned to poor aunt Jane's death ; but draws a truly affecting picture of the dying sister's being unablo to take a last leave of her blind brother. O God 1 is such the end of this miserable life ? They whose hopes are not fixed upon a better are, indeed, worse than the beasts that perish. Our dear mother is apparently comfortable and happy, enjoying the respect of all who know her : she well merits our filial regard, which I hope will never fail her. Both she and our worthy friends at Bellevue are now descending into the vale of years. How I long to embrace them all once more — to behold again our loved mountain land ! Why were we born poor and friendless, when many a dolt inherits a fair estate? When or where we shall meet again, God only knows ! May he preserve and prosper you, wherever your lot may be cast !" « Fort Confidence, April 20th, 1838. " Gentlemen, " We now resume our report on the affairs of the expedition, up to the present period. " Our last fishery entirely failed about two months ago, but our hunters continue to furnish us with a sufficient supply of reindeer and musk- ox meat. No fewer than six or seven guns have recently burst in the chase, but happily only one 278 LIFE AND TRAVELS Ol' l| r ii'l^ personul accident has ensued — the loss of a fore- finger by one of our young Chipewyans. Both Indians and whites, we are happy to say, enjoy uninterrupted health. " The greatest degree of cold registered here this winter (G0° below zero), occurred on the 11th of March; the mean temperature of the winter so far, is lower by several degrees, than any experienced by Franklin or Back, while the gales that here fre- quently accompany the severest cold, constitute a fearful distinction. The easterly winds which rush down from the mountains of the barren grounds, are the most intense ; the westerly more commonly bring snow. Not the remotest symp- tom of spring has yet appeared, and the ther- mometer this morning stands at 26*^ below zero. " Mr. Simpson has explored the barren grounds stretching from this place to the Coppermine River, in three different lines. His first journey performed with two men in the latter end of March, was solely for the purpose of discovery. On the second, he conducted our whole disposable force of men and dogs, laden with part of our provisions and baggage, for the ensuing summer, to a secure spot which he had marked in the first dwarf woods on the banks of a navigable stream, fifteen miles from its confluence with the Coppermine, and ninety-five from this place by THOMAS SIMPSON. 279 tlio route adopted. That route leads through the plains of Dcase's river, to a point where the latter turns off to the north-west, in lat. 07" 22' N., long. 117° 42' W., far beyond where it was seen by Dr. Richardson. A height of land of six miles conducts to a chain of dismal lakes, thirty miles in length, winding in a south-easterly direction through a narrow cleft in a low range of primitive rocks, which produce not a tree or shrub, and seem unfrequented by any living creature. During the preceding day's journey, musk-oxen were numerous, and several were shot. Mr. Simpson left the baggage in charge of two trusty men, (provided with lodges &c.,) who are to remain at the station till we pass with the light boats in June. The remainder of our summer's provisions has been subsequently for- warded to the same place : and the boats will be transported up Dease's River, either on iron-shod sledges, when the snow melts off the ice, or by the first open water, according to the advance of the season. Our object is to reach the northern sea, not later than the 1st of July. "Chief-Trader Macpherson has favoured us at our request with a perusal of the minutes of the council for 1837. With extreme surprise we read, that our careful and meritorious boat- builder and summer-master, John Ritch, has i.ti'' .'>2 280 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF i;:^.t n^i -8 been * fined five pounds, for wanton destruction of the Company's property at Norway House last year.* The man solemnly declares himself uncon- scious of any such transgression. We have had good cause to notice his conduct during the trying emergencies of last season, in a very differ- ent manner; and in justice to him and to the expedition generally, we beg leave, with all due respect, to request a more satisfactory explanation of the grounds of this most unexpected charge, which has as it were accidentally come to our knowledge. Ritch has applied for his immediate discharge in consequence of this circumstance, but we are quite unable to dispense with his services, as, independently of the weakness of our numbers, we have no other person capable of the summer management of this place, on which you must be aware that the safety of the whole party essentially depends. t i : < " The horrid affair of Cadien and his accom- plices,"^^ having been agitated among the Dogrib and Hare Indians, by whom we are surrounded here, we were under the necessity of applying to * A murder of several Indian families. The principal, Cadien, (a half-breed servant of the Company,) was brought to Canada and tried for murder ; of which, on the testimony of his accomplices in crime, he was found guilty. He was condemned to death ; but his sentence was mitigated to trans* portation for life to New South Wales. THOMAS SIMPSON. 281 Mr. Macpherson for information respecting the steps which you have been pleased to take in that dark transaction. These have been commu- nicated to the natives, who appear satisfied with our explanations ; we are thus relieved from con- siderable anxiety which we felt on account of Ritch and his two fishermen, who will be left entirely at the mercy of these Indians during our absence on the coast. "The remaining ten men attached to the expedition will form our crews; and if again protected by Providence, we may hope to return successful to winter-quarters before the 1st of October. ** We have the honour to be. Gentlemen, "P. W. Dease. "Thomas Simpson." " To the Governor, Chief Factors, and Chief Traders of the Northern Department." The following notices of the climate of this dreary arctic abode, were transmitted by my brother to the Meteorological Society of London. "The following is an abstract of the atmo- spheric temperature (Fahr. scale) during the year 1838, at Fort Confidence, situated near the north-eastern extremity of Great Bear Lake, in lat. 66° 53' 36" N., long. 118" 48' 45" W. The standard thermometer employed, was made by 282 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF :'ll Dolland. It was placed five feet from the earth, with a northern aspect, and its indications were registered every three hours throughout the twen- ty-four. It may be proper to remark, that other thermometers showed from one to five degrees lower. Extreme Temperature. Monthly 1838. Highest. January . — O'S" February . zero March . . . +220 April . . +42*0 May . . . +570 June . . +75*5 July . . . +75-0 August . . +65*5 September . . +60-0 October . . +41*0 November . +20*0 December . . +19*0 Mean temperature of the year + 13*62", or 18-38° of frost. I had the curiosity, when the thermometer stood at — 49°, to cast a pistol-bullet of quicksilver, which at ten paces passed through an inch plank, but flattened and broke against the wall three or four paces beyond it. The mean temperature of the six coldest months of the winter 1837-38, November to April, was 14*07° below zero. For the conve- nience of comparison, I add the means of the corresponding six months, calculated from the journals of former arctic expeditions. Lowest. mean -49-0" — 29-00" —54-0 — 22-70 — 600 -19-77 — 310 + 711 zero + 30-83 + 22-0 + 46-70 + 32-0 + 52-91 + 20*0 + 45-21 + 21-0 + 37-68 - 7.0 + 24-80 — 31-0 — 0-62 -41-0 — 11-12. THOMAS SIMPSON. 283 Winter Island, Sir Edward Parry 1821-2 — 9'87> Igloolik, do. 1822-3 -17-68 Fort Franklin, Sir John Franklin 1825-6 - 6-78 Do. do. 1826-7 - 9-63 Fort Reliance, Sir George Back 1834-5 - 5-43 The interval at Fort Confidence, during which the thermometer never rose to the freezing point, was six months and a week, from the 17th of October 1837, to the 24th of April 1838. On the last-mentioned day, it reached the freezing point at noon ; but only four days previously it had been as low as 26° below zero. North and south winds are of rare occurrence here; easterly winds are the most prevalent, especially during the colder months, when they frequently blow with violence, even at the lowest temperatures ; west, and even north-west winds commonly bring on snow, and less severe weather. This is at variance with what obtains over a considerable part of North America, but may be accounted for by the situation of the place on the verge of the last woods, close to the " barren lands." This appellation is given to the north-east angle of the continent, because that extensive region is destitute of wood. The winds which sweep over it are, therefore, more intense than those which traverse the well-wooded country to the westward of Great Bear Lake. While engaged at various times during the winter of 1837-8 on hunt- 284 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF ^•(1 Hi ing excursions with Indians to the eastward, and in surveying the different routes to the Copper- mine River, I could not help remarking the in- crease in the severity of the cold and the fre- quency of the storms, when we got out into the hilly " barren lands." The lakes and rivers are there much earlier frozen ; and, as a further instance of the disparity of climate, the Coppermine River when we entered it with our boats last spring, in lat. 67° 07' N., only broke up on the 21st of June, while Mackenzie's River, in the same parallel of latitude, is usually open by the close of May. But little rain falls at Fort Confidence during the summer season ; last winter, the average depth of snow on level ground, was about three feet. The largest quantity falls when the rigour of the cold begins to abate towards the spring. A very common — I might say the ordinary — ap- pearance of the aurora borealis, is an arch with little motion, passing through the zenith, and spanning the heavens from north-west to south-east. Now, since the variation of the compass at Fort Confi- dence is about four points easterly, (more accu- rately 48° 30') it follows, that there is a dispo- sition in this phenomenon here, to arrange itself at right angles to the magnetic meridian. In the depth of winter, those white clouds seen during the short and imperfect daylight in many in- THOMAS SIMPSON. 285 stances prove to be the aurora, whicli also not unfrequently appears through a hazy sky. Its displays are seldom very brilliant ; and it hardly ever exhibits here those vivid prismatic tints which T have often admired between the latitudes of 50° and 60° north." It may be interesting to housekeepers to have a record of the expenditure at this Arctic abode ; 1 am able to give the following details from my brother's papers, in which each day's transac- tions are noted, with the most minute accuracy. The officers' mess (women and servants included) consisted of nine persons, namely, Mr. Dease, his native wife, niece and child, my brother, two men acting as servants, and two Indian scullions. The expenditure of piovisions was as follows, from September to June : — 548 fishes, 34,931bs. of fresh meat (including bone), 631 reindeer tongues, 225 lbs. of fat, 33 geese and ducks. And they enjoyt \ the following liuvuries : — 27 tbs. of tea, 6jlbs. of pepper and spices, 21bs. of mustard, 2 gallons of rice, 6 gallons of raisins, 2 gallons of barley, 4 gallons of wine, 4001bs. of sugar, 1501bs. of butter, 5401bs. of flour, 2 hams. The servants' mess consisted of twelve men, one woman, one child ; and their consumption was as follows : — 2329 fishes, 16,4521bs. of fresh meat (including bone), 1331 lbs. of dried meat, 1741bs. of pemican, 130lbs. of fat, 62 tongues, 50 geese. 286 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF A comprehension of the principles on which a very large amount of solid food can be digested, and is necessary, in an Arctic climate, will alone enable one to understand how this large amount of provand wn.s isposed of.* It will be remarked that this liberal expendi- ture was justified by the ample means which the energy of the officers and their habitude to the country enabled them to provide. m ♦ The following apt illustration from a recent popular sci- entific treatise explains the cause of hunger in cold weather : — " In the summer season, the air is greatly rarified by the heat, and the amount of oxygen taken into the lungs is com- paratively small — the carbonaceous matter of the blood, there- fore, is slowly burned, and a return of hunger as slowly follows the gratification of the last appetite. In so far we resemble our fires — they burn slowly and feebly, because there is not a sufficiency of oxygen to encourage their blaze. In winter the air is more dense, especially in clear frosty weather, and every inspiration we make conveys into the lungs a maximum quan- tity of oxygen, which, acting there, and throughout the capil- lary system, carries off with remarkable rapidity whatever ma- terial it can combine with. The waste being rapid and abun- dant, it follows that the supply must be proportioned to it, and hence, in healthy and vigorous subjects, hunger is an almost constant claimant in cold weather. If this hunger be not satisfied, the body wastes with fearful rapidity. In fact, the analogy is sufficiently close for us to say, that the body, in respiring this dense pure air, consumes as much faster than in respiring a heated and expanded air, as does a fire on a clear frosty morning burn more brightly and rapidly than in the full sunshine of a hot summer's day. THOMAS SIMPSON. 287 CHAPTER XV. Expedition of 1838 to the Eastward of the Coppermine River. — Its Comparative Failure. — My Brother's Opinions thereon, detailed in his Letters. — Opinions of the English Press, and the Public. 1 1 " Fort Confidence, Sept. 15, 1838. " It now becomes our duty to report the in- complete success of the expedition to the east- ward, this summer, in consequence of the ex- traordinary duration of the ice. Much, however, has been done to prepare the way for another attempt next year; and our hopes, instead of being depressed, are elevated by the knowledge so painfully acquired this season. " On the 6th of June, our boats were conveyed on the ice to the mouth of Dease's River (then just open), the ascent of which was commenced on the following day. With some assistance from Indians, we reached the portage leading to the Dismal Lakes, (discovered by Mr. Simp- son last winter,) and carried the boats across it without accident. The ice on these lakes was still perfectly solid; and we were provided i i' I, h I I 288 LIFE A.Vli TRAVELS 01' with iron-shod sledges for the passage. On these we fixed the boats ; and the wind being fair, hoisted sail, which greatly aided the crews on the hauling ropes. In this manner, these frozen reservoirs, which are full thirty miles long, were passed in two days ; and we reached our provision station at Kendall River on the 19th. There we had the satisfaction to find the two men (left there by Mr. Simpson in April ) well ; and their Hare Indian hunters successful in the chase. " Two of these active fellows consented at once to accompany us along the coast, and proved not only good voyageurs; but, during our fre- quent detentions among the ice, killed so many reindeer as enabled us to save nearly half our summer's stock of provisions. " Next day, (20th of June,) we proceeded to the Coppermine River, which was still fast. It, however, gave way on the 22nd, and we de- scended all its terrible rapids at full flood, while the ice was still driving. ' - "Below the Bloody Fall, the river did not clear till the 26th ; and on the 1st of July, we pitched our tents at the ocean. Two or three Esquimaux families were seen there ; but they took the alarm and fled over the ice to- wards some distant islands. Here, and on va- THOMAS SIMPSON. 289 rioiis parts of the coast, a fine collection of plants was made by Mr. Dease. " We remained imprisoned in the mouth of the Coppermine River, awaiting the opening of the ice till the 17th of July. Our subsequent progress along the coast, was one incessant, we may say desperate struggle, with the same cold obdurate foe, in which the boats sustained se- rious damage, several planks being more than half cut through. At various points we saw caches of the Esquimaux placed upon the lofty rocks out of reach of beasts of prey ; but we did not fall in with any of the owners, who seemed to have all gone inland to kill rein-deer, after their winter seal-hunt among the islands. Fragments of Dr. Richardson's mahogany boats were found widely scattered ; and many articles left by his party at the Bloody Fall, were care- fully preserved in the native keepings. " On the 29th of July, we at length succeeded in doubling Cape Barrow. The northern part of Bathurst's Inlet was still covered with a solid sheet of ice ; and, instead of being able to cross over direct to Point Turnagain, we were com- pelled to make a circuit of one hundred and forty miles by Arctic Sound and Barry's Islands. " On the easternmost of that group, Mr. Simp- son discovered, at the base of a crumbling cliff, u !■ * 290 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF fi several pieces of pure copper ore; and the ad- jacent islands had also the appearance of being strongly impregnated with that metal. — A series of specimens of all the principal rocks along the coast, was preserved. " In order to attain Cape Flinders, we had to perform a portage across an island, and several over the ice. On the 9th of August, we doubled that cape ; and in a little bay three miles to the southward of Franklin's furthest encampment in 1821, our boats were finally arrested by the ice which encompassed them for twenty- two days. So different was the season of 1838, from that of 1821, when Franklin found a perfectly open sea there on the 16th of August. In June, the early part of July, and towards the middle of August, we had frequent storms, accompanied by snow and frost; but, during the greater part of July and the beginning of August calms prevailed, which, together with the severity of the preceding winter, we consider the cause of the tardy disruption of the ice this seasoL " On the 20th of August we were obliged to relinquish all hopes of advancing further with the boats. That our efforts might not, however, prove wholly fruitless, Mr. Simpson offered to conduct an exploring party on foot for ten days. It was at the same time arranged THOMAS SIMPSON. 201 between us that, 4n the event of any favourable movement taking place on the ice, Mr. Dease should immediately advance with one boat. Signals were agreed upon to prevent our missing each other on the way ; and should we unfor- tunately do so, the last day of August was fixed for the rendezvous of both parties at Boat Har- bour. That unlucky spot is situated in latitude 68" 16' 26" N., ion. 109° 20' 46" W. Variation of the compass 46° East." » ;!' "Mr. Simpson's narrative of his journey and discoveries to the eastward is here annexed. " On the 31st of August we cut our way out of our icy harbour — the grave of one year's hopes — and, having the benefit of fair winds, crossed Bathurst's Inlet by Wilmot's Islands, and safely re-entered the Coppermine River on the 3rd of September. The following day we proceeded to the Bloody Fall, and there secreted our superfluous provisions. "The ascent of the Coppermine (hitherto deemed impracticable) to near the junction of Kendall River was accomplished on the fifth day. We deposited the boats in a woody bluff, where they can be conveniently repaired next spring. Then, taking our bundles on our backs, u 2 .11 ! IS J ■Ij i r 292 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF n \\\ M we traversed the " barren grounds," and returned to winter quarters yesterday. "We had the satisfaction to find everything in good order : the buildings rendered more comfortable, and some provisions collected. Our return so much earlier than we ourselves ex- pected, on leaving Point Turnagain, has enabled us to commence the fall fisheries in good time : and, though our stock of ammunition and other necessaries for the Indians is reduced very low, want no longer stares us in the face, as it did for several months after our arrival here last year. We are most happy to add that the natives have experienced neither famine nor sickness this season: the only death within our knowledge being that of a blind old man. "P. W. Dease. " Thomas Simpson." ■: I-, 1 «-i Mr. Simpson's narrative of his journey on foot to the eastward. " On the 20th of August, the date appointed for the return of former expeditions from these desolate shores, I left our boats still hopelessly beset with ice, to perform a ten days' journey of discovery on foot to the eastward. My com- panions were five servants and two Indians. We carried a wooden framed canvas canoe ; THOMAS SIMPSON. 293 and nearly the same other baggage as on the journey to Cape IJarrow last year, with the addition of a tent for the nightly shelter of the whole part}, on a coast almost destitute of fuel. Each man's load at starting weighed about half- a-hundredweight ; and our daily progress averaged twenty geographical miles. " About the middle of the first day's journey we passed the furthest point to which Sir John Franklin and his officers walked in 1821. Be- yond that the coast preserved its N.N.E. trending to our encampment of the same night, situated on the pitch of a low cape, which I have named Cape Franklin. " From west to north-east a new land or crowded chain of islands of great extent, in many places high and covered with snow, stretch- ed along at the distance, apparently, of thirty miles ; and led to the apprehension that we were entering a deep sound or inlet. The main-land now turned off to E.N.E., which continued to be nearly its general bearing for the three following days. It is flat in its outline, our path leading alternately over soft sand, sharp stones, and swampy ground. At the distance of from one to two miles, the coast is skirted by a range of low stony hills (then partially clothed with dull verdure) which send down to the sea 294 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF r« m n numberless brooks and small streams. None of the latter at that season reached above our waists, though the deep and rugged channels of many of them showed that in the spring they must be powerful torrents. Two leagues inland a hill (which I have called Mount George, after Governor Simpson) rises to the height of six hundred feet ; and forms a conspicuous object for a day's journey on either side. The ice all along lay immovably aground upon the shallow beach, and extended in every direction as far as the eye could reach. "The great northern land still stretched out before us, and kept alive doubts of our being engaged in exploring an immense bay, which even the increase in the tides, the quantity of sea-weed and shells, and the discovery of the remains of a large whale, and of a polar bear, could not altogether dispel. These doubts were converted into certainty as we drew near, on the fourth evening, an elevated cape, and saw land, apparently, all around. With feelings of bitter disappointment I ascended the height, from whose summit a splendid and most un- looked-for view burst suddenly upon me. " The ocean, as if transformed by enchantment, rolled its free waves beneath, and beyond the reach of vision to the eastward. Islands of THOMAS SIMPSON. 295 various shape and size overspread its surface; and the northern land terminated in a bold and lofty cape, bearing E.N.E. a,t least forty miles distant, while the coast of the continent trended away to the south-east. I stood in fact on a remarkable headland at the eastern entrance of an ice obstructed strait. " The extensive land to the northward I have called Victoria Land, in honour of our youthful sovereign, and its eastern termination Cape Pelly, after the Governor of The Honourable Company. To the promontory, whence I saw this welcome sight, I have attached the name of Cape Alex- ander, after an only brother, who would give his right hand to be the sharer of my journeys. " The rise and fall of the tide there was about three feet ; being the greatest observed by us in the Arctic seas. The coast here changes its character — the water becomes deep — the ap- proach easy ; and I have little doubt that the islands contain secure harbours for shipping. "Next morning, at the distance of eight or nine miles, we crossed another high cape, com- posed of trap rocks. The travelling had become more and more toilsome ; our road, now, passing over some miles of round loose stones, and then through wet mossy tracts, sown with large boulders, and tangled with dwarf willows. At our usual w :|. «ii 296 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF camping hour we opened a large bay, studded with islands, which ran for five miles to the S.S.W., and then turned off in a bold sweep of rounded granite hills dipping to the sight in the E.S.E., at the distance of thirty miles. To walk round even the portion of the bay in view would have consumed three days — the time allotted for out- going was already expired ; and two or three of my men were severely lame from the fatigue of their bundles, the inequalities of the ground, and the constant immersion in icy cold water. " I, besides, cherished hopes that, by making the best of our way back, we might, agreeably to my arrangement with Mr. Dease, meet him bringing on one of the boats, in which case, with an open sea before us, we could still have con- siderably extended our discoveries before the commencement of winter. " I may here remark that we were singularly fortunate in the five days of our outward journey : the weather being so moderate and clear that I daily obtained astronomical observations; whereas, before our departure from the boats, and during our return to them, we had continual storms, with frost, snow, rain, and fogs. "Close to our furthest encampment appeared the site of three Esquimaux tents of the preced- ing year, with a little stone fire-place apart ; we THOMAS SIMPSON. 297 passed the remains of a larger camp, and several human skeletons, near Cape Franklin ; but no- where, throughout the journey, did we find • recent traces of that few and scattered people. "The morning of the 25th of August was devoted to the determination of our position, and the erection of a pillar of stones on the most elevated part of the point ; after which I took possession of the country, with the usual ceremony, in the name of the Honourable Com- pany, and for the Queen of Great Britain. In the pillar I deposited a brief sketch of our pro- ceedings for the information of whoever might find it. Its situation is in lat. 68° 43' 39" N., long, (reduced from excellent lunars at the boats) 106° 3' 0" W. The magnetic variation being 60° 38' 23" E. The compass grew slug- gish and uncertain in its movements as we advanced eastward, and frequently had to be shaken before it would traverse at all. " Two miles to the southward of our encamp- ment, a rapid river of some magnitude dis- charges itself into the bay, the shores of which seemed more broken and indented than those along which we had travelled. "Independently of Victoria Land and numerous islands, I have had the satisfaction of tracing fully one hundred miles of coast ; and of seeing 1^1 if II 298 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF mm ; m thirty miles further, making in all (after deduct- ing Franklin's half day's journey already men- tioned) about one hundred and twenty miles of continental discovery. This is, in itself, impor- tant ; yet I value it chiefly for having disclosed an open sea to the eastward, and for suggesting a new route along the southern shores of * Victoria Land,' by which that open sea may be attained, while the main-land (as was the case this season) is yet environed by an impenetrable barrier of ice. Whether the open sea, to the eastward, may lead to Ross' Pillar, or to the estuary of Back's Great Fish River, it is hard to conjecture, though the trending of the most distant land in view should rather seem to favour the latter conclusion. " The same evening, on our return, we met the ice at Trap Cape driving rapidly to the eastward. As we proceeded the shores continued inaccessi- ble ; but open water was, now, everywhere visible in the offing. At dusk, on the 29th of August, (our tenth day,) we regained the boats, and found them still enclosed in the ice, — which the north-westerly gales seemed to have accumulated from far and near towards Point Turnagain. "Thomas Simpson." My brother's feelings and opinions, on return- THOMAS SIMPSON. 299 ing from this comparatively unsuccessful voyage, will be gleaned from the- following extracts from his private letters. TO GOVERNOR SIMPSON. "September 18th, 1838. "It will be needless to repeat the history of our journey, which the official dispatch contains. All that has been done is the fruit of my own personal exertions, achieved under circumstances of peculiar difficulty. I speak not of the diffi- culties of the way — these I have never much regarded ; but of those of opinion with which I have had to struggle. " My worthy senior, like Franklin and Back, was alarmed by the storms, the snow, and frost, in August, circumstances which always attend the disruption of any great body of ice ; and insisted that the 20th of that month, the date fixed for the return of the Government expeditions, should also be that of ours. I contended that the clearest sea, and some moderate weather, will always be found in September. To the first of that month, our final departure was, in con- sequence, protracted, and the intervening period enabled me to discover one hundred and twenty miles of the continental coast, a new northern land, many islands, and an open sea to the east- i ^ 300 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF " f? ,.1 11 ward. Had I been alone in the command the latter circumstance, and the rapid disruption of the ice as we returned towards the boats, would have determined me to make a bold attempt to reach Ross' Pillar, or the Great Fish River this season: but being somewhat in the situation of Sinbad in the tale, I was not al- together free to follow my own designs. That they would have proved, by this date, successful, I have little doubt from the remarkable beauty of the weather which we still enjoy. But my eddcellent senior is so much engrossed with family affairs, that he is disposed to risk nothing ; and is, therefore, the last man in the world for a discoverer. I write not in anger but in sorrow ; I esteem Mr. Dease for his upright private character, while I cannot help regarding him and his followers as a dead weight upon the ea^pedition. " From Point Turnagain, by crossing Bathurst's Inlet direct to Cape Barrow, we reentered the Coppermine in four days as I had maintained. Dease would have the time at least trebled — talked much of the heavy gales in September, and of the risk of being taken in the new ice — two things quite incompatible with each other. " At the Bloody Fall I had another contest against five weighty authorities. Franklin, Richardson, Dease, Mackay, and Sinclair con- THOMAS SIMPSON. 301 curred in pronouncing the further ascent of the river impracticable. I, however, carried my point against them all ; and instead of abandon- ing our boats (and with them next year's voyage) to the Esquimaux, in five days we got them safely up to near the junction of Kendall River — the stream through which we entered the Coppermine in June. The opinions I expressed regarding the Coppermine, its depth of water, the rapids, the precipices, and the probable formation of a narrow beach at their base by the subsid- ing of the spring flood — in every particular proved correct : showing that ten years' ea^erience well applied may be more valuable than that of a life-time. '^^ "Since our return to this place, on the 14th inst., I have had the greatest trouble to keep the expedition together. Mr. Dease dwelt upon the probability of our recall — the insignificance of our remaining means — and the shattered con- dition of the boats; I argued that our honour was pledged in the cause — that we had pro- visions, if not goods, on hand — with nets to procure more ; undertook, if necessary, to get our inland boat conveyed by one of the routes explored by myself, last winter, to the Copper- mine ; reminded my senior that the sea boats were * " His years but young ; yet his experience old I" 302 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF purposely left in a convenient situation for Ritch to repair them next spring ; that we could get proper iron works for the purpose made at Fort Simpson ; and recommended the instant dis- missal of our expensive Chipewyan hunters. " Sinclair and several others applied for their discharge, and Dease again expressed his desire of relinquishing the further prosecution of the enterprise. Upon which, to bring the matter to a point, I proposed to remain and follow it up with one boat's crew of volunteers. " Had I acted like Parry, and others similarly circumstanced, I might have converted the erroneous notions of my senior to my own future aggrandisement ; instead of which, sacrificing interest to honesty, I have been urging him on to his own advantage, reserving only the labour to myself. Would to God that I had again met with Esquimaux on my pedestrian journey, and could have obtained a baidar from them as last year, I should then either have reached the Great Fish River, or Ross' Pillar — or have never returned to tell the tale." SAME DATE TO THE AUTHOR. After narrating the advance voyage, he says, — " It was during ten days of that tedious inter- THOMAS SIMPSON. 303 val that I performed the pedestrian journey to the eastward, of whicli I hav6 already made men- tion. Its results are, the tracing of one hundred miles of the continental coast, — the seeing thirty miles farther, — the discovery of an extensive * terra incognita et nivea'' to the northward (dis- tant about thirty miles from the main), which I had the honojir of naming * Victoria Land,' — of an archipelago of islands, — and, what I value more than all, of an open sea to the eastward. That open sea first greeted my astonished and delighted eyes on the fourth evening from the summit of a bold headland, which I have named Cape Alexander after an only brother, whom I love with an affection that the world, as it goes, knows little of. i i " Our journey was altogether a laborious one, owing to the roughness of the ground, the icy cold streams and swamps in which we were con- stantly immersed, and the severity of the weather on our return. Two or three of my men became completely lame, and one is still laid up from the fatigue then endured. " On the 29th at dusk, we rejoined Mr. Dease and our comrades at the boats. We had, on our return, found a great change in the state of the ice, which now only obstructed the shores, leaving everywhere a clear offing. Had I not been. 11 5f ; mi '•W 304 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF like Sinbad the sailor, hampered with an old man on my back, I should have immediately turned eastward with both boats ; but the appre- hensions of my useless senior and of the crews overpowered my single voice. * * " We have made collections of minerals and plants ; and on Barry's Islands in Bathurst's In- let, I had the good fortune to discover several pieces of virgin copper. I have three pet white wolves, which I found in a burrow at the height of land in June ; then little brindled pups, but now fine stout fellows. They are remarkably docile, and as fawning as spaniels. I mean to train them to the sledge this winter ; and (bar- ring accidents) they shall have the honour of carrying me out at the close of the expedition. * * * Our remnant of trading articles for the Indians is very insignificant ; but we have a snug little stock of provisions, and have now two or three good fall fisheries under way. Our little buildings, too, are much improved ; and I hope to pass a quiet and comfortable winter, after the long and fatiguing journeys of the two last. Ltururies we have none, our only beverage being the Arctic tea-plant infused without sugar. " For myself, I am still — and I glory in it — but a clerk in their Honours' service, though I have won a distinguished place among Northern «nR>ius vfPSON 305 Diisi'ovtn I h »e it may be as you say, that a wider ui wil' be o])onod to me ; though I confess 1 ippreh**tj(l some slippery trick on the part of the concern on which my discoveries throw lustre. They cannot, however, bar the foot of the throne against me. Back, it appears, got * back' after doing nothing. My anticipa- tions in reference to next summer are more sanguine than ever, from the knowledge so pain- fully acquired this season." These feelings of disappointment were much soothed by the receipt, on the 27th of December, of communications from England, intimating the great interest excited by the publication of the dispatches announcing the successful issue of the expedition to Point Barrow. The commenda- tions of the press were enthusiastic ; and letters expressed in terms of high encomium from her Majesty's Secretary of State for the Colonies, and the first Lord of the Admiralty, were for- warded to him. Balm for a wounded spirit ! I may here mention that the narrative of the comparatively unsuccessful campaign of 1838, as given in this chapter, was, immediately on its arrival in London, published in the " Times," and extensively copied into periodicals in all parts of the world. m 1 306 LIFE AND TRAVELS OP A high tribute was universally paid to the ardour and hardihood exhibited by my brother, the comparative failure justly ascribed to the unpropitious season, and a strong confidence ex- pressed in the ultimate succoss of the expedition. The Geographical Society echoed public opinion by bestowing upon my brother the gold medal placed at its disposal by his Majesty William the Fourth ; a convincing proof that it esteemed him the real director of the expedition. • / ., I ' ^f ^\ THOMAS SIMPSON. 307 CHAPTER XVI. Winter 1838-39. — Preparations for a renewed Arctic Voy- age. — Instructions to the Keservc. — Last Will. — Com- pletely Successful Expedition of Summer 1839. — Return to Red River Colony. , I SHALL not outer into a lengthened detail of the monotonous but fearfully precarious second winter passed at the dreary and desolate Fort Confidence ; a monotony varied solely by un- remitting and untiring exertions to guard against starvation. Let the following brief dispatch tell (and it tells concisely and vividly) of this winter of care, anxiety, and privation. " Fort Confidence, May Ist, 1889. " Gentlemen, " A winter of intense anxiety is nearly over without mortality. But for our aid many of the natives must have perished from hunger; for a murder among themselves, last fall, paralysed their energies, and, to add to this calamity, the rein-deer forsook their lands. " We have saved them through great sacrifices, X 2 t'i M ! fj ^ i 308 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF and greater exertions. The environs of our win- ter quarters have not been strevred with Indian corpses ; yet, by the practice of rigid frugality, we are still in a condition to prosecute our dis- coveries on the northern sea. " Oolibuck, the Esquimaux interpreter, reached this place with the regular winter packet on the 13th ultimo. This valuable and unlooked for acquisition we owe to Chief Factors Christie and Charles, who engaged— to Chief Trader Todd and the other gentlemen along the route, who so promptly forwarded him to his destination. ** This winter has happily been less rigorous than the terrible one of 1837-8. In sheltered places indications of thaw already begin to appear at mid-day ; and in another month we may ex- pect to see the surface of the earth again. " Our boats are repaired ; our provisions are on the banks of the Coppermine ; and as soon as that impetuous river bursts its icy fetters in June, the rest of the part/ will be there, with hopes nowise damped by the hardships and lan- guor of a second Polar winter. ** We have the honour, &c., "P. W. Dease, "Thomas Simpson." " To the Governor, Chief Factors, and t^ Chief Traders of the Northern Department." THOMAS SIMPSON. 309 Previous to giving my brother's narrative of the successful voyage of 1839, I wish to place before the reader verbatim the " instructions " which he penned for the small detachment left behind at Fort Confidence — the reserve^ I may call it, of the expedition. The party started with the determination to succeed or perish; yet there is no symptom in these instructions of a rash and careless indif- ference — of a confiding in the chapter of acci- dents ; on the contrary, they are as business-like, clear, and distinct, as those which the most martinet commissary could issue previous to a march "from Ealing to Acton." There was, indeed, a singular combination in my brother's character, a combination to be found in very few characters {The Duke, a con- spicuous example among the few), of the most daring courage, the most enthusiastic ardour, with a sedulous attention to minute details, and a most careful preparation of those " means and appliances " which a cautious judgment pointed out as likely to lead to success. i i H "INSTRUCTIONS TO JOHN RITCH. "1. Your principal care during the summer, next to the safety of the establishment, will be to keep two fisheries a-going under the charge * j « 310 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF of Felix and Morrison, who, with the aid of Indians, are to dry as many fish as possible. " 2. You will also trade their dried provisions from the Indians ; but all who wish to with- draw to Forts Norman and Good Hope, should be encouraged to do so ; a very few of the best hunters being sufficient for our purpose. "3. About the middle of September a boat manned by servants and natives, will arrive from Fort Simpson with some ammunition, leather, &c., (as per list 1,) of which you will be very saving, in case of our having to pass part of another winter at Fort Confidence. The boat's crew to be placed as assistants to Felix and Morrison, till required to return to Mackenzie's River. " 4. We expect, God willing, to get back from the coast on or before the 10th of October. Should you not see or hear from us by that day, you will, on the following, despatch the Mac- kenzie River-boat with her crew, the families at the establishment, private property, some of the dogs, and everything not absolutely necessary for subsistence at the place. You will put the whole in charge of Felix, in whose stead you can retain young Boucher; and to strengthen the crew of the boat, you may add a couple of active Indians, not encumbered with families. This THOMAS SIMPSON. 311 boat you will provision with dried meat, (besides dried fish for the dogs,) to Fort Simpson, de- ducting from the requisite quantity two bags of Pemican, now at Fort Norman, which you will give Felix an order to receive. Should the fall be early, and the strait threaten to freeze up before the 10th of October, the boat must start earlier, as it is essential that she reach Fort Simpson by open water. "6. The Pemican, &c., now here (as per list, No. 2) besides what you are to make, ammuni- tion, nets, axes, sledges, some leather, snow shoes, and other articles pointed out to you must be left here in case of our having to perform a winter march to Fort Simpson, also the seven best trains of dogs (as per list, No. 3). " 6. Should we unfortunately not get back to winter quarters this season, you must maintain the establishment till the 10th of October, 1840, and on the first ice, 1839, send an express to Fort Simpson (with a copy of these instructions), crav- ing Chief Trader Macpherson's assistance and advice. " Fort Confidence, June 14th, 1839. "List No. 1.— Articles expected from Mackenzie's River. 1 Keg Gunpowder. ' 1^ Bag Ball, i „ Salt. *! 312 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF a Bales containing 30 large Morseskins. 2 pieces strouds, (coarse cloth,) I white^ 1 blue. 2 dozen yew handle knives. h » files. 1 Roll Twist Tobacco. 2 Cents. Gunflints. 6 Small axes. 6 Skeins Twine, or net thread. Wood for 5 dozen sledges. 15 pairs snow-shoes, and 5 axe helves. «• List No. 2. — Dried Provisions remaining at Fort Confi- dence. 3 Bags Pemican. 3 „ Grease. 3 „ Flour. " Also more than sufficient pounded meat to make, with two of the bags of Grease, five more of Pemican — in all, twelve pieces, upon which we depend on our return from the coast. ii " List No. 3. — Dogs to be kept. 1st sledge — Brandy, Shanass, Toby. 2nd do. — Sansbec, Captain, Castor. 3rd do. — Cervolant, Lion, Boatswain. 3th do. — Negre, Sauvige, Bob. 5th do. — Carlo, Whiskey, Wabistan. 6th do. — John Mackay's own train. 7th do. — Laurent's own two, and Teyma. Felix's Tarrioke, and the Wolf to go out by the first boat." Although my brother considerately represented to me and his other relatives, that " the service is by no means the desperate one it is represented THOMAS SIMPSON. 313 to be," he himself was well aware of its extreme risk, and previous to his departure executed his Last Will (which has been acted on). It is expressed as follows : — " In the event of my death on the present Arctic expedition, my worldly means, to the best of my knowledge, will stand as follows : — Five hundred pounds sterling in the hands of the Hudson's Bay Company : my re visionary share as a chief trader in that concern, worth, at the utmost, fifteen hundred pounds sterling: whatever monies the British Government may award me for the acknowledged discovery in the year 133 7, of the long-sought North-west passage, or may arise from the publication of my maps and journal : and my half-share of a house and garden in the town of Dingwall, in the highlands of Scotland. Of these effects I will and bequeath the sum of one thousand pounds sterling, free of legacy duty and all other charges, to my mother, Mrs. Mary Simp- son of Dingwall, aforesaid. To my uncle, Duncan Simpson, Esq., of Bellevue, near Beauly, in the same county of Ross, and to his wife Mary jointly, or to the survivor of them, I bequeath the sum of one hundred pounds sterling : and to Mrs. Margaret Bain * of Dingwall aforesaid, twenty * His old nurse. iril ^! 314 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF ill &l'i U'SlUi 4 pounds sterling, in like manner free from legacy duty and all other charges. To my only brother, Alexander Simpson, now, or lately, in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company, and to his lawful heirs I will and bequeath the residue of my property as above stated ; and all that may accrue to me from any other source whatever, saving and excepting my clothing, books, arms, or other moveables, not specified, at Great Bear Lake and Red River, to the value of one hundred pounds sterling or thereby, which I appropriate to satisfy any claims there may be against me at the said colony of Red River. Should my mother, uncle and aunt, or Mrs. Margaret Bain, aforesaid, die before me, then, and in that case, it is my will that the sums bequeathed to them revert to my brother Alexander, and to his lawful heirs. I further constitute and appoint my said brother, Alexander Simpson, and my friend Alexander Christie, Esq., at present Governor of Red River colony, the executors of this my last Will and Testament. " In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal in duplicate, at Fort Confidence, Great Bear Lake, this eleventh day of June one thousand eight hundred and thirty nine. "Thomas Simpson." - :' ■':■>.■ _ i :- L.S. THOMAS SIMPSON. 315 The following despatch narrates the completely successful result of the summer's proceedings : — " Fort Simpson, October 16, 1839. "Honorable Sirs, " We have the honour to report the comple- tion of all the primary objects of the expedition — the entire fulfilment of Governor Simpson's ori- ginal instructions, under which it has been our good fortune to act, and something more, though, as we plainly told your Honours last winter, it was quite out of the question to think of reaching the straits of the Fury and Hecla from the Cop- permine River. " On the 22nd of June we descended that im- petuous stream to the Bloody Fall, where we remained until the 28th. This interval was employed by Mr. Simpson in exploring Richard- son's River, discovered in 1838, which discharges itself, as we then supposed, into the bottom of Back's Inlet, in lat. 67° 53' 57" N., long. 116" 56' W. A party of about thirty Esquimaux were encamped there, all of whom fled pre- cipitately to the hills, except one family, whose tent was placed on an island in the stream. With these last a communication was opened, through our interpreter, Oolibuck ; but the circle of their little lives being confined to Behrens' m 31G LIFE AND TRAVELS OF Isles and the borders of Richardson's River, they had no information to impart of any value. " On the 3rd of July, the first slii^ht opening occurred in the sea ice, of which we took instant advantage ; but our first week's journey did not exceed twenty miles, and it was the 18th, after sad work, before we could attain Cape Barrow. From its rocky heights we beheld with equal surprise and delight, the wide extent of Coro- nation Gulf partially open, whereas, long after the same date in 1838, the whole party might have crossed it on foot. At midnight on the 20th, we landed at Cape Franklin, just one month earlier than Mr. Simpson's arrival there, on his pedestrian journey of the year before. A violent easterly gale arrested our progress for the next four days, and on the 27th and 28th, we encountered great peril in doubling Cape Alexan- der, amidst very heavy driving ice. " From Cape Alexander, situate in lat. 68° 56' N., long. 106° 40' W., to another remarkable point in lat. 68° 33' N., long. 98° 10' W., the Arctic coast may be comprised in one spacious bay, stretching as far south as lat. Q7° 40', before it turns off abruptly northward, to the last mentioned position. This vast sweep, of which but an inconsiderable portion was seen by Mr. Simpson last year, is indented by an endless sue- THOMAS SIMPSON. ni7 cession of minor bays se})aratc(l from one anotlier by long narrow projecting points of land, enclosing an incalculable number of islands. " From this description, it will be evident that our route was an extremely intricate one, and the duties of the survey most harassing ; but, whilst perplexed beyond measure in finding our way through these labyrinths, we derived great advantage from the protection afforded by the islands from the crushing force of the seaward ice, and the weather was generally clear. In fact, the most serious detention caused by ice on this part of the voyage, was from the 1st to the 5th of August, on a point that jutted out beyond the insular chain. White Bear Point, as it was called, lies in lat. 68° T 85" N., long. 104° 36^ 45" W., variation 54° 45' E. These bays and masses of islands present a distinct succession of geological features, which can be best illustrated by our series of specimens of the rocks that compose this wild and barren coast. Vestiges of Esquimaux, mostly old, were met with where- ever we landed. They appear to subsist in single families, or very small parties, and to travel inland for the deer hunt in the month of June, not returning to their sealing islands till the ice sets fast in October. A river twice the size of the Coppermine, which falls into the sea P 818 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF in lat. 68° 2' N., long. 104° 15' W., is much resorted to by reindeer and musk oxen, in the summer season. " Finding the coast as already remarked, trend- ing northerly from the bottom of the great bay, we expected nothing less than to be carried round Cape Felix of Captain James Ross, contrary to the ci njecture hazarded by Mr. Simpson, in his nar- rative of last year's journey. On the evening of the 10th of August, however, (at the last point already given,) we suddenly opened a strait run- ning in to the soutward of east, where the rapid rush of the tide scarcely left a doubt of the exist- ence of an open sea leading to the mouth of Back's Great Fish River. This strait is ten miles wide at either -extremity, but contracts to three in the centre. Even the narrow channel is much encroached upon by high shingle islands, but there is deep water in the middle throughout. "The 12th of August was signalised by the most tenific thunder-storm we have ever wit- nessed in these regions. Next day it blew rough- ly from the westward, with a very dense cold fog, but we ran rapidly south-east, passed Point Richardson and Point Ogle of Sir George Back, and continued on till the darkness of night and the increasing gale drove us ashore beyond Point Pechell. The storm shifted to the north-east. THOMAS SIMPSON. .319 and lasted till the IGth, wlicn we directed our course, with flags flying, to the Montreal Island. On its northern side our people, guided by Mackay, soon found a deposit made among the rocks by some of Sir George Back's party, but, as Mackay seemed to think, without that officer's knowledge. It contained two bags of pemican, and a quantity of cocoa and chocolate, all per- fectly rotten, besides an old tin vasculum, and two or three other trivial articles, of which wo took possession as memorials of our having break- fasted on the identical spot where the tent of our gallant, though less successful, precursor stood on his return from Point Ogle to the Great Fish River, that very day five years be- fore. "The arduous duty we had, in 1836, under- taken to perform, was thus fully accomplished ; and the length and difficulty of i le route back to the Coppermine would have amply justified our immediate return. We had all suffered more or less from the want of fuel, and the deprivation of warm food ; and the prospects grew more cheerless as the cold weather stole on apace ; but having already ascertained the separation of Boothia from the American continent, on the western side of the Great Fish River, we de- termined not to desist till we had settled its 320 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF relation thereto on the eastern side also. A fo^^f which had come on dispersed towards evenin<]f, and unfolded a full view of the picturesque shores of the estuary. Far to the southward, Victoria Headland stood fortli so clearly defined, that we instantly recognised it by Sir George Back's exquisite drawing. Capo Beauft rt wo almost seemed to touch ; and with the tei Jticope we were able to discern a continuous line of high land as far round as north-cast, about two points more northerly than Cape Ilay, the extreme eastern point seen by Sir George Back. " The traverse to the furthest visible land oc- cupied six hours' unremitting labour at the oar, and the sun was rising on the 17tli when we scaled the bluff and singularly shaped Rocky Cape, to which our course had been directed. It stands in latitude G8° 3' 56" N., longitude 94° 35' W. The azimuth compass, by Jones, settled exactly in the true meridian, and agreed with two others, by the same maker, placed on the ground. From our proximity to the magnetic pole, the compass had latterly been of little or no use; but this was of the less consequence, as the astronomical observations were very frequent. The dip of the needle, which at Thunder Cove (12th of August) was 89° 29' 35", had here de- creased to 89° 16' 40" N. This bold promon- THOMAS SIMPSON. 321 tory, wlierc wc lay wind-bound till the lOth, was named Cape Britannia, in remembrance of our glorious country. On the beetling rock that sheltered our encampment from the sea, and forms the most conspicuous object on all this part of the coast, wc erected a conical pile of ponderous stones, fourteen feet high, that, if not pulled down by the natives, may defy the rage of a thousand storms. In it was placed a sealed bottle, containing a sketch of our proceedings, and possession was taken of our extensive dis- coveries in the name of Victoria I., amidst the firing of guns and the enthusiastic cheers of the whole party. " On the 19th the gale shifted from north- east to east-south-east, and after crossing a fine bay, due east, with no small toil and danger, the coast bent away north-east, which enabled us to effect a run of forty miles. Next day the wind resumed its former direction, and after pulling against it all the morning among the shoals and breakers, and gaining only three miles, we were obliged to take refuge in the mouth of a small river. " From a limestone ridge, about a league in- land, we obtained a view of some very remote blue land in the north-east quarter, in all pro- bability one of the southern promontories of Y 822 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF Boothia. Two considerable islands lay far in the olHng, and others, high and distant, stretched from east to east-north-east. " Our view of the low main shore was con- fined to five miles in an easterly direction, after which it appeared to turn off greatly to the right. We could, therefore, scarcely doubt our having arrived at that large gulf uniformly de- scribed by the Esquimaux as containing many islands, and with numerous indentations stretch- ing down to the southward, till it approaches within forty miles of Repulse and Wager Bays. The exploration of such a gulf, which was the main object of the Terror's ill-starred voyage, would necessarily demand the whole time and energies of another expedition, having a starting or retreating point much nearer to the scene of operations than Great Bear Lake ; and it was quite evident to us that any further foolhardy perseverance could only lead to the loss of the great object already attained, together with that of the whole party. "We must here be allowed to express our admiration of Sir John Ross's extraordinary es- cape from this neighbourhood, after the pro- tracted endurance of hardships, unparalleled in arctic story. ' • ^ • ' ^. ^ "The mouth of the stream which bounded THOMAS SIMPSON. 323 the last career of our admirable little boats, and received their name, lies in lat. 68° 28' 27" N., long. 97° 3' W., variation of the compass 16° 20' W. The strong wind that had forbidden our advance gave wings to our retreat. The same night, the 20th of August, we landed once more at Cape Britannia, and next morning we crossed the inlet direct to Point Pechell, with a heavy sea. On the 22nd we explored a long narrow bay on the west side of Point Ogle, which ex- tends to the sixty-eighth parallel of latitude. The north wind blew roughly, with sharp frost ; and next day we got no further than Point Richardson. Thence we crossed over on the 24th to what had, from the continent, appeared like two islands, but which we rightly conjec- tured to form part of the southern shore of Boothia, or, to speak with greater precision, of that land on which stands Cape Felix of Captain James Ross. This shore we had the satisfaction of tracing for about sixty miles, till it turned up to the north, in lat. 68° 41' 16" N., long. 98° 22' W., only fifty-seven miles from Ross's Pillar. The dip of the needle was 89° 28' 45" N., the magnetic pole bearing north-north-east, distant ninety miles. The variation, as shown by both the azimuth compass and the horizontal ^ar needle, was 45° east. The objects seen on 'Jiis V 2 324 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF coast are easily enumerated — a low uninteresting limestone tract, abounding nevertheless in rein- deer, musk oxen, and old native encampments. To the westward a good deal of ice appeared, and vast numbers of snow-geese passed high over- head in long triangular flights, bound for milder skies. ' " Whilst engaged in taking observations, our men constructed another durable memorial of our discoveries, which was saluted in the usual man- ner. Then recrossing the strait on the 25th we resumed for some time our outward route, only keeping more along the seaward verge of the islands so as to sli ne a straighter course. "The weather, fro . > ing threatening and un- settled, soon became unequivocally severe. On the 29th of August a snow storm began that lasted for seven davs, during four days of which we were fixed to a single spot by the violence of the north-west gales, while the frost was so keen that the pools among the rocks on which we lay became solid enough to bear up a man. A more moderate interval succeeded this fierce outbreak. Quitting the continent again, at the large river already mentioned, we struck north- north-west for an extensive island twenty-two miles off, which we coasted north-west for twenty miles; and shortly before sunset on the THOMAS SIMPSON. 325 6th of September stood out thence due north for the nearest point of Victoria Land, which proved equally distant. We have never seen anything more brilliant than the phosphoric gleaming of the waves when darkness set in. The boats seemed to cleave a flood of molten silver, and the spray, dashed from their bows before the fresh breeze, fell back like showers of diamonds into the deep. It was a cold night, and when we at last made the land, cliffs, faced with eternal ice, obliged us to run on for a couple of leagues before we could take the shore with safety. The coast of Victoria Land, which we explored for upwards of one hundred and fifty miles, is incomparably the boldest we have met with in these seas. Often near the shore no bottom could be found with thirty-five fathoms of line, and the cerulean blue colour of the water everywhere indicated a profound depth.* There are several noble bays, the largest of which, north-west of Cape Alexander, is twenty miles wide and equally deep, backed by snow-clad mountains. It attains to 69° 40' north, the highest latitude of this voyage. "At length we reached the extreme point seen by Mr. Simpson from Cape Franklin in 1838, where the coast of this large country begins again to trend northward of west, Cape 326 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF Barrow lying by computation south-south-west, distant fifty miles. On the 10th September we crossed this magnificent strait with a strong east-south-east or side wind and a rough sea in which our gallant boats, old and worn out as they were, acquitted themselves beyond our most sanguine hopes. Our return from Cape Barrow was miserably retarded by furious north- west winds and severe stress of weather. Winter permanently set in on the 15th September, and next day to the undisguised joy of the whole party, we re-entered the Coppermine River, after by far the longest voyage ever performed in boats on the Polar Sea. " Leaving one of our little craft, together with the remains of the pemican (which through age and long exposure was become quite mouldy), and various other articles, as a prize to the first Esquimaux who may visit the Bloody Fall, we as- cended the river with our double crew in four days, abandoned our tents, and everything but absolute necessaries, crossed the barren grounds up to the knees in snow, having unluckily left our snow- shoes on the coast, and safely reached Fort Confi- dence at dusk on the 24th. The fisheries had failed sooner than ever, and we had good reason to congratulate ourselves on not being doomed to pass a third winter within the Arctic Circle. THOMAS SIMPSON. 827 " After settling with the Indians, liberally rewarding the most deserving, and supplying all with ammunition gratuitously, we took our ae- l)arture on the evening of the 26th in two inland batteaux: one belonged to the expedition, the other came from Fort Simpson sixteen days before our arrival. " Our passage of Great Bear Lake was most boisterous and inclement ; in crossing the body of the lake and other considerable traverses our boats, with everything in them, and even the very clothes on our backs, became converted into shapeless masses and concretions of ice. It was high time for us to escape from Great Bear Lake, for the temperature, which was at 4° below zero when we landed at the head of the river on the evening of the 4th of October, fell 10° low.er in the course of the night, and next day we descended the rapid stream in the very midst of the driving ice. On entering the Mackenzie we experienced a temporary mitigation of this excessive cold; but we should most assuredly have stuck fast above Fort Norman had not the northern gales again arose in their strength, and while they shattered and dispersed the rapidly forming ice, enabled us to stand the current under close reefed sails. At noon, on the 14th October, after forcing our way with no small risk through 328 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF the torrent of ice forced out by the rivers of the mountains, we reached this place, and were cordially welcomed by our valuable friend Chief Trader Macpherson, who had for some time given up all hopes of our arrival. "Most of our people are still afflicted with acute pains and swellings in the limbs, caused by cold and exposure, and we are assured by Mr- Macpherson that he has never known or heard of so early or rigorous a commencement of winter in Mackenzie's River ; on the other hand, so fine a spring as that of 1839 seldom visits these frozen regions, and to this favouring circumstance, un- der Providence, ought our signal success to be partly ascribed. " October 30M. — The state of the ice at length enables us to despatch couriers to Slave Lake. In the mean time Governor Simpson's highly valued letter of the I7th of June, which unfor- tunately missed us in our way hither, has cast up overland. We rejoice in having anticipated the Russian expedition, and secured to our country and the Company the indisputable honour of discovering the north-west passage, which has been an object of search to all maritime nations for three centuries. When our expedition was planned at Norway House, in 1836, it was confi- dently expected that Sir George Back would THOMAS SIMPSON. 329 have achieved the survey of the Gulf of Boothia with the Terror's boats, and that our meeting at the mouth of the Great Fish River would have left no blank in the geography of Northern America. That officer's failure, the exhaustion of our men and means, and the necessity of a new wintering ground, render a fresh expedition indispensable for the examination of the Gulf of Boothia, the circuit of which to the Strait of the Fury and Hecla, according to the Esquimaux accounts, cannot be less than four hundred or five hundred miles. It only remains for us to recom- mend to your approbation the plan proposed by Mr. Simpson to perfect this interesting service, which, as he has no wish to avail himself of the leave of absence granted, he is j)rupared to follow up whenever the limited means required are placed at his disposal. . "We have the honour to be your most obe- dient, humble servants, "Peter W. Dease. "Thomas Simpson." " To the Governor, Deputy-Governor, and Committee of the Hudson's Bay Company, London." From the 14th of October to the 2nd of December, my brother remained at Fort Simp- 330 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF son — a period not of indolence, for during it he completed his Narrative of the Expedition ; and had much occupation mih the calculations, and in drawing up the charts of the eastern discoveries. : On the last named day he took his departure from Fort Simpson. The incidents of the journey to Red River I shall not narrate in detail. The distance is about nineteen statute hundred miles, and it was performed in sixty-one days, all stoppages included ! Even this excessive toil was insufficient to exhaust the energies of such tried travellers as were himself and Mackay, and Sinclair, the picked men of the party, who followed him with unshrinking confi- dence through all dangers and privations. After a day's march of seventy miles, they revelled on the morrow in the delights of a haU and tea supper. On the 2nd of February 1840, my brother returned in safety to his point of departure. Red River colony, after an absence of three years and two months, marked by toils, perils, and priva- tions, such as have seldom been endured. ,\ THOMAS SIMPSON. 331 CHAPTER XVII. Schemes for a renewed Expedition. — Their Reception by Go- vernor Simpson ; by the Directors of the Hudson's Bay Company. i^i Before entering upon the wide field of dis- covery to the eastward of the Coppermine River, my brother foresaw, that the fulfilment of his original plan would not complete the exploration of the Arctic Coast of America; that under any circumstances, there was work there for two summers unless Sir George Back succeeded in his intended exploration from Wager River. The season of 1837 had been uncommonly inclement in the southern regions of Hudson's Bay ; and conceiving from this, that it was im- possible for the expedition to have .accomplished its western object that summer, Governor Simp- son gave authority to the ofiicers to take a second year for that portion, and then devote a third summer to the eastern line of coast. 332 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF This additional authority was eagerly embraced by my brother for the eastern line, now that the western line was complete. He accepts it in these words, — " Now that we are fairly under way, I should consider it shameful to grow wearied like our predecessors with one or even two campaigns. '* I rejoice in the full power you have given us to prolong our sojourn here, as I see to the eastward a probable field for the labours of two summers. " Mr. Dease acceded to my proposal to that effect. We have taken, accordingly, measures to obtain the supplies absolutely required for subsistence from Athabasca and Mackenzie Ri- ver; and have written to York Factory for the Nautical Almanac for 1839, which, as I informed you from Norway House, and again from Red River, cannot be dispensed with. My ideas are- as follows : — " This ensuing summer (1838) we expect to fulfil our original instructions, that is, to attain the Strait of James Ross, to reach the mouth of the Great Fish River, and, if possible, to determine the continuity or separation of Boothia Felix and the continent. " Should they prove united either to the west or east of Great Fish River, then the * North- THOMAS SIMPSON. 333 wost passage' will still roiiiain an undecided question ; the whole coast from Ross's Magnetic Pole northward, to Cape Walker ot Parry, being unexplored. " That is what I propose in 1839, — an en- terprise surpassing anything that has been at- tempted in boats. Yet, if we can bring our little craft to a place of safety this fall, are not disappointed in provisions, and are favoured by Providence with a good season, I have strong hopes of a crowning result. " Even should we have to winter with the Esquimaux in Ross's Strait, do not give us up for lost, as we have our eyes upon every con- tingency." After his discovery of a clear sea to the east- ward of Cape Alexander in 1838, on which, as we have seen, he was prevented from embarking that season by the inertness of his brother officer, he thus details his schemes for future discovery : " Fully aware of the imprudence of making statements in public documents which unfore- seen circumstances may overthrow, I have not in our reply to their Honours' dispatch proposed any specific plan for completing the surveys which our ensuing voyage may leave unfinished. Indeed, it is impossible at present to say what those unfinished parts may be, or how much ; 334 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF for, though in our letter wo state that we only anticipate reaching the Great Fish River — our original limit — yet if we can by any means pe- netrate further, you may rely upon it that we will do so. " I rejoice that you have resolved at all events upon pushing these discoveries to Hudson's Bay ; and I gladly devote life and limb to their com- pletion. I should greatly prefer finishing the whole before going homo to publish any part of our travels. " The present expedition must undoubtedly terminate with next voyage ; for our men, boats, goods, provisions, all are worn out and exhausted. " My esteemed friend, Mr. Dease, complains frequently of his eyesight, which, with family cares, was, I believe, the cause of his anxiety to conclude matters last fall. Should another ex- pedition then be necessary, I would readily un- dertake to conduct it into the north next year. " One vital point in such a service, is to have as few mouths to feed as possible. A post-master and fisherman for the establishment, eight ser- vants and myself for the sea, would be sufficient ; say eleven persons in all, which is only half the number of souls appertaining to Fort Con- fidence. ^ , . " All the preparations could be easily arranged THOMAS SIMPSON. 335 on my journey out next winter. At Fort Cliipc- wyan, n quantity of pcmican and leather would have to be provided, and two small sea-boats built in spring 1840. At Norway House, the re- quisite supply of flour, grease, ammunition, and other goods might be procured ; and there wouhl bo no want of volunteers for a service so popular. One boat would convey ourselves and all our wants in company with the Portage-la-loche Brigade to Fort Chipewyan, where, assuming the two sea-boats, and stock of peiiiican, &c., we could reach either Fort Reliance or this place in good time in September 1840 ; and my first ict would be to establish the fall fishery. " This is the simplest, cheapest, and most expe- ditious plan of operations that I can devise ; and I hope that } < /u will have no objections to entrust me with a discretionary power to make the neces- sary arrangements, if the result of our approaching voyage shall be found to justify them, so that no time may be lost. *' If Boothia Felix turn out an island, and that we are unable to get beyond it this year, a very likely way of reaching the Straits of the Fury and llecla would be to pass the first winter at Fort Reliance ; and while the exploring party is engaged the following summer on the coast, the post-master and fisherman, with the aid f In- 33G LIFE AND TRAVELS OF dians, to come round to tliis place, (Fort Confi- dence,) which, from its proximity to the sea, (eight days on foot,) we might attain when the season would be too far advanced to attempt the ascent of Great Fish River. " Neither do I despair of getting to Cape Walker of Parry in some way or other, should Boothia prove a peninsula. The distance is great; but I would not scruple to undertake it with one boat transported as far as possible over the ice from *he mouth of the Coppermine, as soon as that river breaks up, in the latter end of June ; the other boat following, with the bulk of the provisions, as the navigation opened. In short, I see no difficulty which does not also present some means for overcoming itself. These are, of course, mere conjectures now ; but what- ever wintering ground may be found most eligi- ble, the party and means should be the same. " The expense of finishing what will remain undetermined by the present expedition may, I think, be safely assumed at half its cost. No one can have more reason than myself to wish that this year may witness the conclusion of our labours in this dreary region ; but if, as I have supposed in this letter, another expedition be required, in consequence of Captain Back's fail- ure to the eastward, I again offer myself unre- THOMAS SIMPSON. 337 servedly to command it on the scale which I have proposed." To this chivalrous proposal, no direct answer was made ; the following cold " Red Tape " pa- ragraph was all that reached my brother, when he was returning flushed with success in having achieved more than his own plan, and the in- structions founded on it, pointed out. " We observe that, whether successful or other- wise, in accomplishing the survey to Great Fish River, you are not prepared to continue the ope- rations of the expedition next year, which is to be regretted, as we were in hopes that, after that section of the coast had been surveyed, you would have been in a condition to push your discoveries to the Straits of the Fury and Hecla. That, however, we find cannot be done under any circumstances ; you may therefore repair to the depot, and take a winter's leave of absence if agreeable to you, by way of recruiting after your severe and hazardous labours ; during which I have no doubt plans will be matured for com- pleting this very diflicult and interesting service, which cannot be allowed to fall to the ground while a shadc^w of hope remains that there is s possibility of accomplishing it."* * The same dispatch conveyed a hope that the expedition had returned from the coast by the Great Fish Hiver. Z 338 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF How this cold evasion was viewed by my brother's high spirit, may be judged from his reply. "Fort Simpson, October 25, 1839. " So far from wishing to avail myself of the leave of absence, which you have so kindly offered unasked, it gives me great uneasiness that a whole year will probably elapse before the final expedition can be set on foot that is destined to accomplish this North-easU as my excursion to Point Barrow in 1837 achieved the Noi'th-west Passage. " Probably you considered the discretion I soli- That the writer of the dispatch, (and rcoipient of honors in virtue of having concerted the plans of the expedition,) knew very little of the matter, is well shown by the reply made to it : — " With this early winter, had we resolved on ascending the Great Fish River, we should in all probability have been set fast hundreds of miles from Fort Reliance; and the bones of some of the party would have been now bleaching on the barren grounds. But, supposing that the fall had been fine, and that we had, like Back, got within a couple of days* jour- ney of Fort Reliance, and crossed the interior mountains on foot, — what should we have found at Fort Reliance ? A parcel of blackened ruins, without provisions, resources, or craft, to convey us over the vast length and across the inter- minable arms of Great Slave Lake, so that our fate there would have been much the same as in the Gulf of Boothia. By going up the Great Fish River, under any circumstances, our most valuable magnetical observations would have been THOMAS SIMPSON. 339 ^l M cited in my letter of the 31st of January too great, at least I infer so from your silence on that head. * * * * , " As for what remains to be done, I am so far from seeking to convert it to my future advantage, that, with my life, I hereby place at your disposal, towards meeting the expenses of the new expedition, should there be any ob- stacle, the sum of five hundred pounds, being every shilling I am worth at this moment, be- sides all the future proceeds of my double com- mission, till the whole charge of the said expe- dition shall be redeemed. " Fame I will have, but it must be alone. My worthy colleague on the late expedition frankly acknowledges his having been a perfect super- numerary; and to the extravagant and profli- gate habits of half-breed families I have an insuperable aversion. " The coast, from the Strait of the Fury and Hecla to York Factory, is still more dangerous for boats than that which we have tried so well this season ; but my whole soul is set upon it. wanting ; and the extensive southern coasts of Boothia and Victoria Land would have remained unexplored : for it was only our return to the Coppermine that enabled us to accom- plish the double survey. After this explanation, I trust that the subject will be fully understood, and the soundness and humanity of our judgment felt." z 2 340 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF and I feel an irresistible presentiment that I am destined to bear the Honourable Company's flag fairly through and out of the Polar Sea." Finding that his proffers were at least coldly received by his relative, whose jealousy of his rising name was now but ill disguised, my brother addressed to the Directors of the Com- pany a direct dispatch on the same subject, con- veying his plan of an expedition to complete the survey of the Gulf of Boothia ; and a bold, daring, but perfectly feasible plan it is ! " Fort Simpson, October 18th, 1839. " Honourable Sirs, " My much-esteemed friend. Chief Factor Dease, has made over to me his claim to the command of another expedition, which, from the tenor of your Honours' dispatches, you will doubtless determine on setting on foot for ex- ploring the Gulf of Boothia, the only section of the Arctic coast of America now unknown ; I am therefore emboldened to lay before your Honours a plan f'>r the accomplishment of this important undertaking, which I humbly think can scarcely fail of success. "The position of the Great Fish River, fall- ing into the sea in the vicinity of the unex- plored coast, clearly points it out as tlie best THOMAS SIMPSON. 341 egress to the scene of operations. True, it pos- sesses no advantages over the Coppermine as a channel of retreat : on the contrary, the diffi- culties would, in such an early winter as the j)resent, be greatly aggravated ; but, as a start- ing point, it offers the immense superiority of bringing the party upon the field one month earlier. As compared with Churchill, its supe- riority in respect to time is still greater; there remains, therefore, not the shadow of a doubt that Fort Reliance ought to be the wintering ground of the proposed expedition. "The party should consist of thirteen men, including the Esquimaux interpreter, and a per- son qualified to act in the double capacity of boat-builder and summer-master ; the latter with two fishermen to remain at the establishment. The other ten men to accompany myself to the sea ; and, with two Indians, form the crews of two small boats, to be built in the course of the winter at Artillery Lake. I have personally be- spoke the services * if required ' of Mackay and Sinclair, the only steersmen in the country who are acquainted with the long and dangerous na- vigation of the Great Fish River. The requisite supply of provisions can be procured at Atha- basca, and the trading goods brought from the depot next spring, to be in readiness for starting 342 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF either in 1840 or 1841, as you may decide. Should it be my good fortune to obtain your Honours' confidence and sanction, there are two points upon which I would require discretionary power. The first, to employ two seasons on the coast, if necessary ; the second, to be permitted either to fall back on the Great Fish River, or to push through the Straits of the Fury and Hecla, and make my way to York Factory. The latter course, if practicable, would be by far the most ac- cordant with my feelings ; and I have only to add in conclusion, that I am ready and willing to devote not only my life, but my means to the achievement of an enterprise that cannot fail to confer new lustre on the Honour^.ble Com- pany's name. " With the utmost respect, " I have the honour to remain, " Honourable Sirs, " Your most obedient humble servant, (Signed) " Thomas Simpson." " P.S. — A portable barometer and a superior pocket chronometer would be required by the earliest opportunity The barometer formerly sent us was broken on the way from Canada, and I cannot, with any propriety, retain C. F. Smith's valuable watch longer." ^ THOMAS SIMPSON. 343 Tlie Directors of the Hudson's Bay Company agreed to the project laid before them by my brother. The success which had crowned his past exertions, indeed, presaged for the new ex- pedition, a conclusion honourable alike to them- selves and to him. Their letter of acceptance is couched in the following terms : — " Reverting to the subject of the Arctic Dis- covery Expedition, the gallantry and excellent management manifested by Messrs. Dease and Simpson in that arduous and interesting service, and the good conduct of the people under their conduct, entitle them to our warmest commenda- tions. The valuable and important services of Messrs. Dease and Simpson have been brought under the consideration of Her Majesty's Go- vernment, who have not, as yet, noticed the subject. " We observe that Mr. Dease avails himself of the leave of absence that has been afforded him, with the intention of visiting Canada, this season; and that Mr. Simpson volunteers to conduct another expedition, with the view of continuing the survey from the mouth of the Great i^'ish River, to the Straits of the Fury and Hecla. We have much satisfaction in availing 344 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF ourselves of that gentleman's proferred services ; you will, therefore, be pleased to meet any demands that may be made by Mr. Simpson for men, goods, provisions, craft &c., &c. ; and to take the necessary measures to give effect through- out the country, to that gentleman's views and wishes, in reference to the important and arduous service on which he is about to re- enter.*' This letter never reached my brother ; it was dated on the third of June, 1840, and sent out by the Hudson's Bay ships. THOMAS SIMPSON. 345 CHAjPTER XVIII. Letters written to the Author from Rod River Colony. — Departs for England, via the Prairies. — " Last scene of all." — Depositions of the Survivors, and Observations there- on. — Appearance. — Character. LETTER TO THE AUTHOR. « Red River, May 26, 1840. " My dearest Alexander, " I HAVE now to thank you warmly for your very kind and affectionate letters of June and July last, from Lake Winipeg, and of the 6th October from Boat Encampment. Your account of your journey up the Saskatchewan is so amusing, and you are likely to see so many strange and semi-barbarous scenes on the Californian coast, and in the Sandwich Islands, that I would strongly recommend your keeping a journal, with a view to publication. A light and amus- ing book of travels through countries so very little known, dealing more in anecdote than in scientific details (of which last I for one am tired enough) would be sure to sell, and bring 34G LIFE AND TRAVELS OF reputation to the writer. How delightful it would be to me, could we both before the decline of life, ' the sear and yellow leaf,' win a comfort- able retreat together in our native land, having but one heart, one soul, and one united family ! The friendship of the world I know and feel to be vain and worthless ; ours will endure fresh and unchangeable till death. I fancy you will be taking to wife ere long some dark-eyed Seiiora. You would be a lucky fellow could you fall upon one with ingots enough to emancipate you from Fur Trade thraldom. Wretchedness is the in- evitable portion of all who remain too long in this service. " 3Iy own situation at present is a very sin- gular one — uncertain till the canoes arrive whether I shall turn my face again to the North Pole, or towards Merry England. In the mean time I shall give you a brief sketch of our last year's eventful labours. " The spring of 1839 was unusually early, though at Fort Confidence we had the thermo- meter at 15° below zero in May. On the 28th of July we attained my extreme pedestrian limit of the 25th of August 1838. From thence the coast forms a stupendous bay, full of indenta- tions, and perplexed with myriads of islands, which, however, tended to fend off the ice, as far THOMA^» SIMPSON. 347 as Cape Ccddos in lat. G8° 33' N.. Ion. 98" 10' W. Here, where we least expected it, opened the disputed Strait of Boothia, ten miles wide at either extremity, but only three in the centre. Through this narrow pass we made our way, and on the 16th of August landed on Back's Montreal Island, where we found a Cache of pemican, chocolate, and other articles left there " All we had undertaken to perform was thus achieved, but we, or rather /, resolved to do mm'Cy and we accordingly crossed the estuary to a distant headland, which we discovered and named Cape Britannia. The line of no variation passes through this bold promontory, on whose summit we erected a lofty pile of stones, and took possession of our extensive discoveries in the name of our sweet little Queen. We penetrated about fifty miles further to the north-eastward, and the land then turning off to the right, there seemed every probability of our having attained the western side of the great Gulf of Boothia, which, according to Esquimaux report, runs far down to the southward, approaching within forty miles of Repulse and Wager Bays, and then turning up northward to the Strait of the Fury and Hecla. The circuit of this unknown gulf must be about five hundred miles, being all that now remains unexplored of the northern shores of 348 LIFE AND TRAVELS OP A morion. It was an extent far beyond our reach, and on tlie 2()th of August the advereo gpJos compelled us to return. On our way back we first struck across to Boothia, the southern coast of which we examined for sixty miles, leaving it at "Cape Herschel," fifty-seven miles south of Ross's Pillar, and ninety S.S.W. of the magnetic pole, the dip of the needle wanting only 31' of the perpendicular. After this, by means of wide traverses, we reached the Victoria Land discovered and named by me in 1838, whose southern coast we explored for a hundred and fifty-six geographical miles, crossing several magnificent bays, which I named after the Duke of Wellington and other high personages, and from Victoria Land we got back to the continent at Cape Barrow by a good traverse of fifty-five statute miles. We had throughout the season a great deal of rough and dangerous sailing, much to the discomfort of my worthy friend Mr. Dease, who was quite out of his element. Winter began on the 29th of August, set in with great severity on the 15th of September, and on the 16th we made our joyful entry into the Copper- mine, after by far the longest voyage ever per- formed in boats on the Polar Sea. We crossed the barren grounds knoe-deep in snow, had the thermouiutur at 14° below zero in Bear Lake, THOMAS SIMPSON. JJ40 niul with great risk ami (lifficulty rcaolicd Fort Simpson, amidst very heavy drift-ice, on the 14th of October. " On tlio 2nd of I)eceml)er, 1 quitted that snug place with my maps, &c., and, after an unri- valled winter-journey of two months, was wel- comed back to lied River by 'King Duncan,' and other friends. I have since been awaiting my future destiny with impatience, and the moment it is decided shall write you again ; till then adieu ! " Ever your most aifectionatc brother, " Thomas Simpson." The annual canoes from Canada, which arrived on the 2nd of June 1840, brought him no ratifica- tion of his plan, nor news of the reception given by the public to the intelligence of the complete and brilliant success of the previous summer's expedition ; indeed, the letters conveying this information did not reach England in time to be acknowledged by that opportunity. The rati- fication of his plan by the Directors of the Com- pany was transmitted to America by the ships which sail for Hudson's Bay in June ; and much anxiety was expressed by them that he should immediately enter on his renewed labours. Un- fortunately, the proceedings of their local repre- 350 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF sentative, Sir George Simpson, had been very dif- ferent. He had, as we have seen, thrown cold water on my brother's proposals when they were first submitted to him ; and now effectually pre- vented the immediate organization of a renewed expedition, which the resident officers of tlie Company would possibly have undertaken at my brother's solicitation on their own responsibility, by desiring his presence in England. With his usual promptness, my brother at once determined to comply with this intimation ; and chose for his journey the most direct and speedy, but the most hazardous and fatiguing route. The following letter was written to me on the eve of starting on this his last and fatal journey : — " Red River, June 5, 1840. " My dearest Alexander, " I AM just on the move for England, via the United States ; a journey which will, I think, be beneficial to me, as my stomach has been out of order, and my spirits low, for a great part of the spring. " The light canoe arrived on the 2nd, with Mr. Allan Macdonell ; but most of the letters went on to Norway House. . " I, however, received one from Governor THOMAS SIMPSON. 351 Simpson, written by his Lady, inviting me home. God willing, I shall be out again with him next spring. " I cannot go into detail regarding friends ; it would be a work of supererogation, as you will, no doubt, have volumes from them. " Our young Queen, you will learn, is mated with her cousin Albert of Cobourg, and the Melbourne ministry is still in power. There are rumours of war with the United States ; if true, I may perhaps figure as a detenu. " Three Wesleyan missionaries have come in for Lac la Pluie and the Saskatchewan ; and furs have fallen 15 to 20 per cent, in price. Ominous signs these, saying plainly, ' Make hay while the sun shines.' My expenses on this visit will he heavy, and my funds are still light. Go- vernment, I fear, will give nothing. However, I shall see. " To-morrow morning I take my departure, with two companions well mounted and armed, as we expect to fall in with the Sioux, and war is said to be raging in the plains ; so that I hoj)e to see something of prairie life. " Farewell, my dearest brother, and while breath remains believe me ever, " Your most affectionate brother, " Thomas Simpson." 352 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF In the spring of 1840 I arrived at the Cohim- bia River from » v'sit of observation and inquiry, which I was instructed to make to the Sand- wich Islands. On representing my views in re- gard to a business to be carried on at those islands to Mr. Macloughlin, the superintendent of the Hudson's Bay Company's affairs on the Pacific, he expressed a strong desire that I should at once proceed to England across America, in order to personally explain my plans to the Di- rectors of the Company ; but, as my instructions extended to an inquiry into business on the Cali- fornian coast, I urged upon Mr. Macloughlin the expediency of my visiting that country pre- vious to seating out for England. He with some reluctance acceded to this. How little can we poor mortals judge what is best ! Fad I embraced Mr. Macloughlin's proposal, I should have joined my brother at Red River, have been his companion on the home- ward journey, and thus, in all human probability, prevented the sad catastrophe which followed ; into the details of which it is my duty now t( enter — a duty which, however painful, I must not shrink from. I would premise that the first intelligence of my brother's death reached me through a New York paper at the Sandwich Islands in January, THOMAS SIMPSON. 353 1841. The narrative was headed by the appall- ing title of " Murder and Suicide !" Need I say that such a fearful, unexpected blow, commu- nicated in such a manner, completely paralyzed me ? I at once took passage for England ; but after my arrival — indeed, until a very late period — I was quite unable to enter into a minute and careful examination of the evidence given by those who participated in the event. My mind " reposed in trembling hope" that the treachery of his half-breed companions had led to the ca- tastrophe. In this state of feeling, I penned the following remarks, which form part of the brief memoir with which I prefaced my brother's narrative of the expedition : "The long-treasured animosity, (of his half- breed companions,) was likely to have shewn itself in threats and insults, if not in actual attack ; and hence it is the opinion of many intelligent men who have examined the circumstances, and are acquainted with the character of the half- cast natives, resulted the events which cut short my brother's career. If the other supposition should be true, (and there is nothing, save the contradictory statements of his attendants to sup- port it,) if indeed, it pleased Providence to darken the spirit which had passed undaunted through A A 854 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF SO many trials — we cannot but acknowledge that the decrees of God are inscrutable to mortals, and join in those beautiful lines of Cowper : * Man is a harp whose chords elude the sight, Each yielding harmony disposed aright — The chords reversed, (a task which if He please, God, in a moment, executes with ease,) Ten thousand thousand strings at once go loose. Lost, till He tune them, all their power and use.' " A close scrutiny of the statements made by one of the survivors of my brother's party, (from the other no deposition seems to hrve been taken,) and by two of those who afterwards joined them, lAas changed this " trembling hope*' into a certain conviction, that my brother fell a victim, either to the malice and cupidity of his companions, or to a sudden and unpreme- ditated quarrel. I give, first, the Deposition of James Bruce, one of his travelling companions. " Clayton County, Ten vjry of Iowa. " Be it known, that on the 1 3tli day of July, 1 840, personally appeared before Henry H. Sib- ley, a Justice of the Peace in and for said county, duly commissioned and sworn, James Bruce of the Red River Colony, Prince Rupert's Land, who, being duly sworn upon the Holy Evange- THOMAS SIMPSON. 355 lists of Almighty God, touching his knowledge of the events connected with the death of Tho- mas Simpson, Antoine Legros, and John Bird, deposeth and saith, "That Deponent left said Red River Colony, in company with several individuals; and that, on the ninth day thereafter, said Deponent, with four others, to wit, said Thomas Simpson, An- toine Legros, senior, and John Bird, as also the son of said Legros, Antoine Legros, junior, left the main camp, with a view of travelling with greater expedition than said main body on their way to St. Peter's. That some days after, having thus separated from said main body, said Thomas Simpson complained of being unwell, and expressed a wish to return. On the morning of the 1 4th of June he again insisted upon return- ing to said Red River Colony, and offered a con- siderable sum of money to each of the others composing the party, il they would return with him, (said Simpson,) to said Colony. Said Simp- son appeared very restless and uneasy, and De- ponent heard said Simpson express a conviction that he would never recover from his illness. Said Simpson complained of no particular ail- ment, merely stating that he was not well ; and when told that he would meet with a physician at " Lac qui parlc," said Simpson said, in reply. X A U 35G LIFE AND TRAVELS OF that a physician could do him no good, and that lie did not require one. in consequence of the desire expressed by said Simpson to return, on the 14th of June aforesaid. Deponent, with the rest of the party, turned back to join the main camp ; and said Simpson was assured, that upon their rejoining said main body, should he, said Simpson still insist upon going back to said Red River Colony, fresh horses should be fur- nished, and he, said Simpson, be accompanied back to said Colony. On the evening of the said 14th of June Deponent, with his party, en- camped tabout an hour and a half after sun doM'n within a mile of Turtle River; said Simpson was asked if he 'vould have the tent pitched, to which he replied that it was just as the others pleased. While Deponent was engaged with John Bird and Antoine Legros, junior, aforesaid, in raising the tent. Deponent, having his back to- wards said Simpson, heard the report of a gun ; and, on turning round, perceived that said Simp- son had shot said Bird through the body. The said Bird groaned and fell dead. Deponeiit then saw said Simpson turn and shoot said Antoine Legros, senior, with the other barrel of his double-barrelled gun. Said Legros, senior, did not fall immediately, but loaned upon a cart — he fell about two minutes afterwards. Tm- THOMAS SIMPSON. 357 me^'^tely upon the report of the second bar- rel oi said Simpson's gun, Deponert and said Legros, junior, fled a short distance from the cart, when said Simpson called out to Deponent, and asked him, if he, (said Deponent,) was aware of any intention to kill him, (Simpson,) to which Deponent replied, that he had never heard of such intention on the part of any one. Said Simpson then told this Deponent that his life was perfectly safe ; and he further told this De- ponent that he had shot Bird and Legros be- cause they had intended to murder him, (Simp- son,) on that night for his papers ; and further, said Simpson told this Deponent that the laws of England would clear him, (Simpson,) from all blame in the matter. Said Legros, senior, who was still alive, then asked said Simpson to al- low his (Legros') son to go away unharmed, to which said Simpson consented. Said Simpscm then offered this Deponent five hundred pounds to take him, said Simpson, back to the Red River Colony, and keep tlio affair secret. Said Simpson then asked this Deponent if he wouUl know the road back to Red River, to which this Deponent replied * Yes.' Said Simpson then told this Deponent to harness the horses. This Deponent remained a considerable time stand- ing in the same place ; auu Legros, senior, afore- w 358 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF said, called his son to him, bidding him kiss him for the last time. The said Simpson then asked said Legros, senior, whether it was true that he, said Legros and the said Bird intended to kill him (Simpson), to which Legros an- swered * No.* Said Simpson remained with his gun in his hand, while Deponent and Legros, junior, went to where the horses had been placed. This Deponent, and said Legros, junior, then each mounted a horse, and made in the direc- tion of the said main camp. Said main camp might be about two hours* ride from the spot where said Simpson, Legros, and Bird had been left ; but said Deponent and said Legros, losing the track, did not reach said main camp until the following morning. Immediately after the arrival at said main camp of this Deponent, with said Legros, junior, this Deponent in com- pany with five others, viz. Joseph Gaubin, James Flett, Hariy Sinclair, Robert Logan, and Michel Richotte, returned to the place where said Simp- son had been left. Upon approaching, said Simpson was called out to by name by some of this Deponent's party, but no reply was heard. This Dt'ponent saw said Simpson lying in bed on the opposite side of the cart from where this Deponent wag. The report of a gun was forthwith heard, and the whistling of a ball in the TUOMAS SIMPSON. 359 air. A remark was made by one of Deponent's party, that said Simpson must have shot him- self. This Deponent, with his party, then made a circle around the cart aforesaid, to ascertain whether he, (Simpson,) could be seen to move. Nothing was seen, however, but a dog lying be- neath the cart. Said Deponent, with his party aforesaid, continued to call upon Simpson by name ; and receiving no reply, they fired at the said dog, and drove him away. Said Deponent, with his said party, then discharged their guns at the top of the cart, with the intention of alarming said Simpson if still alive. After the lapse of some time, this Deponent asked one of the party to accompany him, this Deponent, to the cart, this Deponent stating at the same time, he was under the impression that said Simpson had shot himself. Upon arriving near the said cart, said Simpson was found by said Deponent to have shot himself through the head. Said Simpson was quite dead, as were also said Le- gros, senior, and Bird. The bodies of said Simp- son, Legros, senior, and Bird, were interred in the same grave ; the bodies of the two latter were found covered when this Deponent reached the spot where they had been left. A trunk and carpet-bag with a double-barreled gun belong- ing to said Simpson, were brought on to Lac 360 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF qui parle, and there left in charge of Doctor Williamson of that place. Said Deponent fur- ther saith, that at no time had said Simpson manifested symptoms of insanity ; but that said Sinijison acted through the whole affair like a man in the possession of his senses. And further this Deponent saith not. his " James ^ Bruce, mark.'' " Sworn to, and subscribed before me, at St. Peter's, this 13th day of July, 1840. « Henry H. Sibley, " Justice of the Peace, Clayton County, Iowa.'' STATEMENT OF ROBERT LOGAN, JUNIOR, ON OATH. " I, Robert Logan, joined the party going to the United States at the Assiniboine River, above the Forks, on the 2nd day of June 1840. On the 7th of the said month Mr. Thomas Simpson, accompanied by Mr. John Bird and Antoine Legros, overtook our party at the Grande Point, some fifteen or twenty miles north of Pembuia. Mr. Simpson and his party kept with our party two days and a half; but on the 10th Mr. Simpson, Mr. John Bird, An- toine Legros, James Bruce, and Legros' son, in all five persons, left our party and proceeded THOMAS SIMPSON. 3GI a-head, with the intention of reaching St. Peter's as quick as possible. Our party pror "el; li«l I 1^-:^ 390 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF fulfilment of that promise, the year after it was made. • ?: ' " He promised him a Chief Factorship on reaching Back's Great Fish River. He reached it in 1839 ; and I claim the fulfilment of that promise from 1840. " The power to appoint officers to the emolu- ments of Chief Factors and Chief Traders is, by the constitution of the Company, solely vested in you. Sir George Simpson is your avowed confi- dential agent. Qui agit per alium agit per se. " That my brother perished, is surely no rea- son for withholding from his heirs the rewards which he had won by his past services ; particu- larly when, as is notorious, those services had much influence in obtaining for you, from the British Government, the gratuitous renewal of your grant of trade, ^nd were the sole means of obtaining for your Home and American Governors the titles which they bear. " I have the honour to be, " Honourable Sirs, " Your most obedient humble servant, , " Alexander Simpson." «♦ To the Governor, Deputy Governor, and Committee, of S , The Honourable Hudson's Bay Company." ' THOMAS SIMPSON. 891 (( Sir, '* Hudson's Bay House, London, May 2drd, 1844. " Your letter dated the 20th instant, setting forth certain claims against the Hudson's Bay Company, founded on a promise stated to have been made to your late brother, by Sir George Simpson, has been laid before the Governor and Committee, who have directed me to make the following reply thereto. " Sir George Simpson is not the agent of the Hudson's Bay Company, but a commissioned offi- cer invested with limited and well-known powers. Your brother was fully aware that he had no authority to bestow appointments, and that the utmost that he could do in promoting any officer was to recommend him (with the approbation of a majority of the Council), to the Governor and Committee. " Whatever promise, therefore. Sir George Simpson may have given your brother, must have been perfectly understood by both parties to be such as he had power to fulfil, and as the rules of the service would allow to be carried into effect; but cannot, by any reason- able construction, be supposed to imply, that your brother, who had then done nothing what- ever to distinguish himself, was to be a dvanced el' I '•yl n 892 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF instanter over the heads of officers who had been more than twice as long in the service, and who had much stronger claims on the Company. , " For these reasons the Governor and Com- mittee consider your claims totally inadmissible. " I have the honour to be ; - " Your obedient servant, " A. Barclay, Secretary." " Alexander Simpson, Esq." « 5, Albany St., Edinburgh, May 27th, 1844. "Honourable Sirs, , <> " In closing my correspondence with you, I must take leave to refer to the reasons which you allege for * repudiating ' claims, which are at least morally binding on you. "These are, " First — That my brother previous to entering upon Arctic Discovery had no claims upon you. " My brother having passed through a collegiate education with distinguished credit, consented to enter your service for particular duties, with par- ticular prospects held out to him. For a very paltry pittance he performed those duties for seven years— a longer term of probation than he had been led to anticipate. ^ ■ > - " Second — That Sir George Simpson is not tlie THOMAS SIMPSON. 893 ^ he Agent of the Company ; and that my brother must have perfectly understood that the promises which I urge were beyond his real power. " I find in your communications with the Go- vernment and the Press, that you ascribe to Sir George Simpson the merit of all the arrange- ments connected with the expedition for Arctic Discovery. I find from a series of my brother's letters that he distinctly understood (and he had been long cognizant of the working of your ser- vice), that Sir George Simpson's promises were valid. " You add, that Sir George Simpson's recom- mendations to you required the approbation of a majority of the Council — a statement which is diametrically opposed to the constitution of the Company — as explained by yourselves in your letter of the 8th of March, 1834 — 'The only other alteration determined on is, that the Com- pany (yourselves) shall have the power of elect- ing Chief Factors and Chief Traders to fill vacan- cies in those classes, instead of being confined to the nomination of the Councils as heretofore.' " You cannot deny that the promises I urge were made ; or that the services rendered on the faith of these promises tended greatly to your pecuniary advantage, and obtained honours for your acting principals. w I 394 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF " To refuse the fulfilment of them is at least discreditable. I have the honour to be " Your most obedient servant, . " Alexander Simpson." " To the Governor, Deputy Governor, and Committee of The Honourable Hudson's Bay Company." (A fulfilment of the promises made would occasion the payment to me of between two and three thousand pounds. — A. S.) LETTER TO SIR GEORGE SIMPSON, GOVERNOR OF THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY'S TERRITORIES. m u Sir, " Dingwall, December 2&d, 1844. "The papers of my late brother were for- warded to me from Hudson's Bay in the autumn of last year. "My brother's well known systematic atten- tion to detail led me to a certain conviction, that in his trunks would have been found all the letters he received during his Arctic resi- dence. When they reached me a great portion of these letters — I especially advert to those from yourself — were w^anting. .. .., ,, " The depositories of deceased persons are in all THOMAS SIMPSON. 395 countries, pretending to law or government, held sacred from examination, save by authorized per- sons, and from spoliation by any person. I hesi- tate not to assert, that the depositories of my brother were rifled of valuable papers ; and I call upon you who hold rule in the country in which the violation was, as I believe, committed, to take cognizance of such an unjustifiable pro- ceeding. " The abstractors, though they removed (as no doubt they were ordered to remove) all such papers as might aiford me legal grounds for proceeding against the Hudson's Bay Company for the fulfilment of pledges given to my brother, fortunately passed unnoticed a small bundle con- taining original sketches of letters addressed by my brother to you, previous to and during his Arctic expedition. *' - " You know what comments these letters would bear out : but I shall, at present, con- fine myself to the pledges which they inform me you gave him previous to his entering on Arc- tic discovery. , , ., i • "I stated to the Directors of the Hudson's Bay Company the claims grounded on these pledges thus, — " ' Previous to starting on the expedition as your responsible agent in North America, Governor I i I !ffl I „(»# 396 LIFE AND TRAVELS, ETC. Simpson, promised to my brother a Chief Trader- ship in return for his past services. I claim the fulfilment of that promise the year after it was made. " * He promised him a Chief Factorship on reach- ing Back's Great Fish River. He reached it in 1839 ; and I claim the fulfilment of that promise from 1840. " * The power to appoint officers to the emolu- ments of Chief Factors and Chief Traders is, by the Constitution of the Company, solely vested in you. Sir George Simpson is your avowed confi- dential Agent. Qui agit per alium agit per se* " The claims thus set forth were * repudiated ' by the Honourable Directors on the ground * that you had no authority to bestow appoint- ments:' but, Sir, that you made such promises as induced my brother to believe that such ap- pointments were to be his immediate reward is clear and undeniable ; and I now call upon you to come forward and obtain their fulfilment. "I am, Sir, " Your very obedient servant, " Alexander Simpson." No answer has been received to the above. ■«-. ■'•■■?. ' \ I ARCTIC DISCOVERY. 397 POSTSCRIPT ON ARCTIC DISCOVERY. It will be observed by reference to m^ bro- ther's letters, and to his last* will, that he considered that, through his discoveries, the question of the ea^istence of a north-west passage had been finally solved in the affirmative. It will also have been seen that the opinions of the English press were to the same effect : in fact, that thereon he founded his claim. Was this claim unfounded ? — Can any sub- sequent explorations deprive him of the merit of connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans by an open sea-communication ? To this point I have already adverted ; and I should not have returned to the subject, had I not observed, while preparing the foregoing pages for the press, that it is in contemplation by the British Government to send out another mari- time expedition — (how many have already failed !) — for the discovery of a North Polar passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The connexion by my brother of the dis- covery on the Polar coasts of Beechey, Franklin, and Back, forming a continuous line of Arctic American Sea-board of sixty-two degrees of longitude, is, of course, perfectly incontrovert- ible. The only possible point on which a doubt i**> 1: I 398 ARCTIC DISCOVERY. can be hung as to his having completed the junc- tion of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, is, whe- ther he reached the same sea which Sir John Ross sailed down in the Victory, passing through Barrow's Straits, and Prince Regent's Inlet ; and which Parry saw before him from the western ex- tremity of the Straits of * the Fury and Hecla.* His own opinion that he had reached this gulf is thus expressed : — " We could therefore hardly doubt being now arrived at that large gulf uniformly described by the Esquimaux as containing many islands, and with many indou- tations running down to the southward, till it approaches within forty miles of Repulse and Wager Bays." The correctness of this opinion has not been questioned by those best acquainted with the subject, until a very recent period, \i^hen a con- jecture has been hazarded, that * North Somerset is a part of the main continent of America.' * This conjecture implies the existence of an isthmus connecting Boothia Felix with the con- tinent. As I have already pointed out such an isthmus was asserted by Sir John Ross to exist. Back's voyage went far to disprove this assertion, and an inspection of the chart, as now • * Dr. King in letters on Arctic Discovery, addressed to Sir J.Barrow. •': ^''t ,>- .-f-. j •'--".: .,,;..,,: •■\^__-y'-^^ ■ ARCTIC DISCOVERY. 39U all but filled up by my brotber's discovei •«, will, I am convinced, satisfactorily prove its incorrect- ness. It will be seen tbat after passing tbrougb a narrow strait, in which there was a rapid rush of tide from the east,* my brother passed the Es- tuary of Back's Great Fish River, and proceeding some distance further, with a clear sea, reached Ion. 94° 14' ; and obtained a view of the coast for eight miles further. This was an advance to precisely the same parallel of longitude that had been reached by Sir John Ross in the Victory; and the distance between the two points attained in their sea-going craft, i. e,, Felix Harbour (Ross), and River Castor and Pollux (Simpson), is less than one hundred miles in a line due north and south. Pedestrian excursions made from the Victory reduce this blank to less than sixty miles. * I find it recorded in my brother's notes (there is but one other case \vhich has come under my notice, in which his notes add to the distinctness of his dispatches and narra- tive), that " there are strong currents or little races among the islands in the Strait of Boothia, also in the estuary of the Great Fish River." If the comparatively open sea, to which the Strait of Boothia led, were merely a ctil de sac, as the junction of Boothia Felix to the continent would make it, how are we to account for these " strong currents or little races?" Are they not indicatory of this being the open pas- sage between two oceans '? I> ¥> 400 ARCTIC DISCOVERY. There is nothing to induce a belief or sup- position that there exists any obstructing land between these two points : on the contrary, tliero are the strongest reasons to conclude that there is an open-sea communication between them. With the plan of the maritime expedition to be sent by Her Majesty's Government to the Arctic Regions, I am quite unacquainted: but taking naturally a deep interest in, and having long and attentively studied the subject, I cannot forbear making a few remarks in regard to it. My decided opinion is, that the most advisable channel for vessels to attempt the passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean is through Barrow's Straits, Prince Regent's Inlet, the Straits of Boothia, and thence along the Arctic American coast to Behring's Straits : and I ex- press a strong conviction, that notwithstanding the uncertainties of Arctic navigation, a passage may be accomplished through this channel with only one winter's delay, in the Polar seas : nai/, that bi/ good fortune a passage from sea to sea might he accomplished the same season. It is certainly within the bounds of perfect probability, that by following the Eastern coast of Prince Regent's Inlet, and Boothia Gulf be- yond the Straits of the Fury and Hecia, (as yet an unsurveyed coast,) and thence traversing I ! ARCTIC DISCOVERY. 401 westward, the rivor • Castor ami Pollux ' ini^lit be reached before tla^ 20th of August. After that date uiy brother made good his way, iu opeu boats, iu an open sea, frequently delayed by storihs, but not by ice, to the mouth of the Coppermine River. Supposing that the vessels attained this point too late to push further westward, they might be secured for the winter in one of the numerous harbours of Victoria Land, or of the continent, of which the shores here, and for a considerable part of the way to the Mackenzie River, are bold and easy of approach. There would be abundant occupation for the officers in spring and early summer, in making pedestrian journeys to the northward, and in a careful examination of the copper deposits long known to exist near the mouth of the Copper- mine River, and which my brother discovered on Barry's Islands in Bathurst's Inlet. Those journeys, if well planned and directed,^* * It would much facilitate and increase the prospect of success of such journeys, if a few men accustomed to travel- ling with dogs and snow shoes were shipped, instead of the crews being composed solely of genuine Jack Tars, good men and true, in their own element, but, of course, perfect novices in this mode of travelling. In the Orkney Islands there could be found many men who have wintered in the fur countries bor- dering on " the barren grounds/' hence well qualified to tra- verse the warmer bays of the Arctic Ocean." D D i I ■ 6^! 402 ARCTIC DISCOVERY. i might do much to connect * Victoria Land ' with the land seen by Parry to the South of IVIelville Island. My belief is, that there is a Polar con- tinent, or close Archipelago of islands, of which * Victoria Land ' (Simpson) and *WollastonLand ' (Richardson) are the southern extremities, while * Bank's Land ' (Parry) forms part of its northern coast. Its western extremity, I think, will be about long. 125°. Whether it is continuous on the eastward to Boothia Felix, or not, is a question which, I believe, exploration will decide in the affirmative. I have a strong opinion that the copper de- posits will be found of much value: moreover, that their working would be by no means an impracticable scheme, when once the way has been opened to private enterprise by well- directed Government efforts. In these straits and bays, I also believe that our whale fishermen would find a rich and virgin field for the prosecu- tion of their daring but lucrative enterprises. The second season of open water should cer- tainly suffice for the passage between the Copper- mine and Behring's Straits, particularly after the convincing evidence given by my brother's suc- cess, that September is really the month most propi- tious to Arctic navigation. A. S." " Ross-shire, March, 1845." THE INDIANS OF NORTHERN AMERICA. 403 THE INDIANS OF NORTHERN AMERICA. AN INQUIRY INTO THEIR CHARACTER THEIR CONDITION. AN INQUIRY INTO THEIR CHARACTER. A QUARTER of a century ago, the poet's de- scription of the Red men of North America as "stoics of the woods — men without a tear," was considered no romantic picture. Latterly the opinion of the world has receded into the opposite extreme. While there was much illusion in the beau ideal of dignity and bravery that was long re- ceived as the correct delineation of the American Indians, but scant justice has been done by late writers to many noble and interesting traits of character which they exhibit. Let us first consider the causes which led to exaggerated ideas regarding them. The pilgrim fathers of New England found the tribes in whose country they landed, haughty, bold, and treacherous, repaying by the most fierce attacks and horrible massacres the injuries which they considered the white men had done them by D D 2 IM' li I r tins 404 THE INDIANS OF NORTHERN AMERICA. settling in their country, and encroaching on their hunting-grounds : the lovely vale of Wyo- ming is a true type of many a fair scene suddenly and fearfully devastated. They found them, also, sternly resolute in en- during the punishments which the New Eng- landers — when the fortunes of the desultory yet destructive warfare turned in their favour — did not fail to inflict on the wicked and blood-thirsty savages, who disquieted them in the retreat to which they had fled from oppression in their native land. The pilgrims and their descendants for more than half a century, never met the Red men save in a bloody skirmish, or in a solemn council at which some temporary truce was to be arranged, consequently, had little opportu- nity for observing their real manners and cha- racter ; and the remembrance of injuries received prevented their forming anything like a calm and correct estimate. In the chronicles of the early settlers in New England will be found abundant evidence of the feeling of hatred mixed with dread, which they entertained towards the race by which they were surrounded. During the war between England and France, which ended in the capture of Quebec, and the expulsion of the French from Canada, in which war the New Englanders nobly bore their share, AN INQUIRY INTO THEIR CHARACTER. 405 the Red men were again encountered, — not now indeed, fighting with the hope of exterminating or expelling the Whites, but employed as mer- cenaries by one or other of the contending powers. During the revolutionary war they were again so employed ; and to the disgrace of civi- lization, even in the nineteenth century, British battalions were accompanied by bands of painted warriors, whose chiefs affected to consider them- selves as independent allies, and observed towards our officers a haughty and stately bearing: the proud answer of Tecumseth, when he refused the decorations of a brigadier general, is of histo- rical record. Under such circumstances alone were the In- dians of North America, for a long time, known to all save the few adventurous traders settled among them. They were met as ruthless enemies in bloody skirmishes, or seen acting the part of auxiliaries anxious to increase the value of their services, and well aware that their best means of accomplishing this object, was to show them- selves to their allies, or more properly employers, in their most imposing attitudes. Hence their haughty reserve, their solemn councils, and their frightful war-dances. View we now the other side of the picture. In these "piping times of peace," gentlemen (I ■l^ i 406 THE INDIANS OF NORTHERN AMERICA. make tours of pleasure even in the prairies of the far west. Omne ignotum pro magnifico might explain, in some measure, the romantic impressions so long existing regarding the Red men. The adage that "too much familiarity breeds contempt," discloses the secret of the later depreciatory descriptions of them. They are represented now * as talkative and noisy ; indulging in and delighted by buffoonery, — in fact, arrant gossips and jesters. They are de- scribed as brutal in their usage of their women, extravagantly fond of self-decoration, gamblers, gluttons, dninkards, greedy bargain-makers, au- dacious pilferers, and importunate beggars ; as shrinking from bold and open attack, and de- lighting to pounce upon an unprepared and defenceless enemy. I admit that most of these degrading traits do belong, in a certain degree, even to the tribes least altered by intercourse with White men. But their talkativeness and buffoonery can be in a moment laid aside, and replaced by a natural dignity and graceful reserve. The apparently harsh usage of their women generally goes no further than the exaction from * See W. Irving's " Tour in the Prairies," Farnham's " Rocky Mountains," Murray's " Travels in America," &c. AN INQUIRY INTO THEIR CHARACTER. 407 them of a certain share of the labour : the man undergoes all the fatigues and privations of the chase; the instant he has entered his tent his labours cease, and all the duties of the camp are performed by the women. A division of toil almost precisely similar to this is rigidly observed in the fishing villages of Scotland; where the men's labours cease the instant the keel has touched the shore. The pains the men take in self-decoration are attributable to their opinion that, to be fiercely painted and gaily plumed, are the marks of a brave warrior and good hunter. And for their gluttony and drunkenness, it may be pleaded that sensual gratifications are the only ones known to them : that natural reli- gion is ever powerless over savages, and that revealed religion has never been taught them. That the " bravest of the brave" of the Indian warriors would shrink from the open and bold attack, which a White man would consider pre- ferable to the suspense of a long and continued state of alarm and watchfulness, is undoubtedly true. In a great measure this arises from the opinion which has been instilled into them, that he is the greatest warrior who can most injure his enemy with the least exposure of himself. But in opposition to this seeming cowardice, it 408 THE INDIANS OF NORTHERN AMERICA. kn W may safely be alleged, that there is in a Prairie Indian, a stem yet passionate energy which a paleface can never rival. At the command of his chief, to gratify his own revenge, or to injure the enemies of his tribe, he will bear hunger, thirst, fatigue, and privation to an extent which appears almost beyond human endurance. He will track an enemy for weeks, follow him when he travels, watch him when he halts ; and, true to his dogma, he will wait with the most untiring patience for the safest moment to strike the blow. If he fall into the hands of his enemy he resigns himself, without an entreaty for mercy, to his fate. If his death is to be a speedy one, he wraps his blanket round his head, and thus awaits the shot or the blow which is to finish his career ; if he is to be exposed to a lingering death by torture, he will, at the stake, taunt and mock his tormentors : 'tis not of the frantic victims of the revolutionary guillotine of whom alone it might be said that " even the scaffold echoes to their jest." For this endurance the youthful Indian of the Prairie tribes is prepared by long training, by the counsels of the elders, and by the example of the warriors of his tribe. No squire in the days of chivalry was more severely tried before he won the spurs of knighthood, than is a Prairie AN INQUIRY INTO THEIR CHARACTER. 409 youth ere lie is admitted to the rank of a warrior. The last trial, — the confirmation, — is terrific. The novitiates are placed in the centre of a large tent, round which the elders and warriors of the tribe repose at ease. Here they are obliged to continue for three days and three nights in per- petual action ; dancing their frantic war dances, while they shout their discordant cries, and sing their monotonous tunes. Not a moment's lepose is allowed ; neither drink nor food is permitted to be given them ; and the only relief tolerated is, that their friends may, at distant intervals, moisten their lips with water, or a piece of fat : even this slight relief a candidate for high re- nown must reject. The sufferings endured in this fearful ordeal are beyond description ; and the scene near the conclusion is frightful. The young men whose powers have stood the test — (many of course fail) — are in a state of frantic delirium : their eyes are glazed and blood-shot ; their lips are cracked and streaming with froth and gore ; and their whole appearance is more that of a band of de- vils than of living men. Those who have safely passed through this ordeal have, it will be allowed, given a proof of their capacity for almost any amount of mental or physical endurance. Such is the character and such are the habits 410 THE INDIANS OF NORTHERN AMERICA. and training of the numerous tribes roving over the immense Prairie stretching north and south through the centre of America, for more than twenty degrees of latitude — the last refuge, ra- pidly encroached upon — of the independent and unchanged aborigines of the northeni continent of America, Similar in character and discipline, though dif- fering in some of their habits, were the Mohawks, the Iroquois, the Narragansets, the Mohicans, and other once powerful tribes encountered by the White men on the Atlantic coasts and rivers. Bold was the stand they made against the en- croachments of the pale faces ! and, though they were at length conquered, their resistance was marked by many fierce struggles and many daring deeds. " 'Tis true that they have past away. That noble race, and brave, — That their light canoes have vanish'd ^ From oflF the crested wave, — That 'mid the forests where they roam'd There rings no hunter's shout." Their habits differed in this — that the Atlantic tribes, living in a country whose trackless forests (now the site of many a fair city and thriving a town) abounded with deer, and whose waters (now navigated by hundreds of mammoth steam- ers) teemed with beaver and fish, had no in- \ AN INQUIRY INTO THEIR CHARACTER. 411 ducement to roam from the hunting-grounds which belonged to them ; thus, though a nomad, they were a comparatively concentrated popu- lation. While the Prairie tribes, owners of countless bands of horses, which enable them alike to make distant forages into their enemies' country, and to pursue the vast herds of buffalo, whence they derive their principal subsistence, — are essentially a wandering and predatory race. The Indians on the Northern Pacific sea-board (the Oregon country, as the Americans term it) bear a strong resemblance in habits and character to the almost extinct and forgotten Atlantic race. They also live in a country abounding with deer and fish: they are numerous, fierce, and resolute ; divided into many tribes, which are in a state of continual hostility to each other, but all inclined, when an opportunity offers, to attack and massacre the White men. But far different in character are the mild and harmless tribes spread over the immense tracts of wooded country, bounded on the south by the Canadas, on the east by Hudson's Bay, on the north by the barren grounds bordering on the Arctic Ocean, and extending on the west to the northern range of the Stony Mountains. Among the thirty or forty tribes, speaking nearly as many different languages, living in this i 412 THE INDIANS OF NORTHERN AMERICA. cheerless region, there are, of course, gmdations of character, some far exceeding others in energy and courage, — and even in the most timid tribe an individual of resolution and daring being some- times found, — still, in describing them generally, mildness and timidity may be considered as the rule, and bravery the exception. Small pairU^ of White men, and even single individuals, can pass entirely unarmed through most parts of this immense region. At the trading houses, often occupied by but two or three men, scarcely any precautions are used to prevent, or preparations made to resist, attack: and murders of white men have been, for the last twenty years, almost unknown. Occupying countries where provisions are to be obtained only by much exertion — particularly for the many months over which, in that cold climate, the winter extends ; obliged to live scattered in small bands or single families, the sole aim of their lives is t«3 procure food for their daily use, and furs to exchange with the traders for the few European articles which they now require : in these pursuits alone are their energies called into play. ^ They are an abject and improvident race — with all the bad qualities, and few, if any, of the bright redeeming traits which marked the character of THEIR CONDITION. 413 m the almost extinct Atlantic tribes, and which still mark that of the independent warriors of the Prairies. THEIR CONDITION. The powerful and warlike tribes which encoun- tered the French on their first settlement in Canada, and which, after it had been for some time colonized, by a sudden and well-concerted attack massacred nearly all the inhabitants of the beautiful island on which the city of Montreal was built, have been, indeed, somewhat more fortunate than their more southern brethren who combated with the stern pilgrims of New Eng- land, and made treaties with the gentle Penn and }ns followers. Of those the beautiful and appro- priate names still borne by many of the Rivers, Lakes, and States of the Union, are now the sole remaining memorials : " Their memory liveth on those hills. Their haptism on that shore, The everlasting rivers speak Their dialect of yore. Old Massackusets wears it Within his lordly crown, And broad Ohio bears it Amid his young renown. Connecticut has wreath'd it Where her quiet foliage waves, And bold Kentucky breathes it hoarse Through all her ancient caves." 414 THE INDIANS OF NORTHERN AMERICA. The Fronch colonists, notwithstanding this dreadful massacre, seem never to have felt to- wards their "red-browed brethren," the same animosity that was cherished by the New Eng- landers. The Canadian governors soon acquired the confidence of the Indian chiefs, whom they conciliated by gifts and courtesies ; and thus ob- tained the aid of their tribes in the war which was so long waged between England and France on the western continent. Two powerful and energetic ecclesiastical bodies, the Jesuits and St. Sulpicians, ardently engaged in the labour of converting the savages to the Catholic faith, and received from the French kings large grants of land in the outskirts of the colony, to enable them to provide not only for their own expenses, but also for the protection and sup- port of their converts. But though the aborigines of Canada were thus, from the first arrival on the continent of America of White men, much more favoured than those of the English provinces, and have also received, up to the present time, more pro- tection and encouragement (not always, it is true, well directed) from the British government than has been accorded to their brethren in the United States, yet they, also, have disappeared rapidly before advancing civilization. A few wretched THEIR CONDITION. 415 villages arc all tho j)088C88ions that now belong to the descendants of the numerous tribes once solo occupiers of the banks of the mighty St. Law- rence ; and the possession even of these has been preserved to them only by the fact of their being, by provincial law, pjfvented from selling their rights of proj)erty th', -ein. Were it not for tliis prohibition, these their last refuges would be bartered to the White men for worse than a iness of pottage — for rum — that bane of all savage tribes. Every visitor to Quebec pays also a visit to the neighbouring Indian village of Lorettey where he can stare at the natives, and lay in a stock of mocassins and other curiosities. No one can pass through the streets of Montreal without observing the Caughnawaga squaws, in their graceful costume, retailing articles of their manu- facture, or wild fruit gathered in the moun- tains ; and their drunken husbands staggering about under the influence of liquor, paid for by their hard labour in the bateaua?, and on the timber-rafts of the St. Lawrence. The traveller who steams up the Ottawa will not fail to admire the (at a distance) beautiful Indian village of Lake of the Two Mountains, in which a few hundred Indians still congregate in summer; its old loop-holed church buildings (still occu- 4 TO THE INDIANS OF NORTHERN AMERICA. piod by St. Sulpiciaiis) cniboHomcd in trees, under wliicli councils have sat for centuries beyond record. Small connnunities of natives, reformed from their evil habits by the teachin/r and example of worthy intMi of the Wesleyan persuasion, are settled on the Uiver ('rddlt, and on Tiake St. Clair in Western Canada. A few wretched families of pure or mixed Indian blooii are still to be found in the vicinity of the Rico Lake, at St. Regis on the St. Lawren(Hs and near the town of Three Rivers ; and these are all the remnants of the aboriginal race now existing scattered among the million colonists of European birth or lonial Office from its pro- priety, — nay, even awakened Lord Glenelg from V * Sir Francis B. Head. , : THEIR CONDITION. 417 his apatluttic Hliim])orH — "by somc! inforiial powcrn tlio f'jicciH of the babloR aro l)(»noiTiiiipf blanchod !" From this rc^ifion canio tlio Ojihivvay rndians, hitely exhibiting in lioiidon. I may romark re- ganliiipf thom, that to gull tho Mliiglish public — (gullible it was declared by ShakH|>eare to have been in his time,* gullible it still is) — tlu^y were decked out in costumes which they n(!ither saw nor wore in their own coinitry. The leather dresses and ornaments were those apj)ertaining to the Prairie tribes, whose m^arest haunt is