Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Polar Sea, in the years 1819 20 21 22, Volume 2
J >> John Franklin >> Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Polar Sea, in the years 1819 20 21 22, Volume 2Transcriber's notes:
There are several inconsistencies in spelling and punctuation in the
original. Some corrections have been made for obvious typographical
errors; they have been noted individually in the text. All changes made
by the transcriber are enumerated in braces, for example {1}; details of
corrections and comments are listed at the end of the text. Note that
many of the errors were introduced in the third edition, as
cross-referencing the second edition has shown.
In the original, the "Mc" in Scottish names is given as "M" followed by
what looks like a left single quotation mark (Unicode 2018). This has
been changed to "Mc" throughout the text.
Specific spellings that differ from their modern versions and have been
retained in this text are "Saskatchawan" (modern "Saskatchewan"),
"Esquimaux" (modern "Eskimo") and "musquito" (modern "mosquito").
Text in italics in the original is shown between _underlines_. For this
text version, the oe-ligature (Unicode 0153) has been rendered as "oe".
Footnote 3 in chapter VIII contains several instances of [.0] as a
transliteration of the symbol for "Sun" (Unicode 2609).
* * * * *
NARRATIVE OF A JOURNEY
TO THE SHORES OF THE
POLAR SEA,
IN
THE YEARS 1819-20-21-22.
BY
JOHN FRANKLIN, Capt. R.N., F.R.S., M.W.S.,
AND COMMANDER OF THE EXPEDITION.
PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY OF THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE EARL BATHURST.
THIRD EDITION.
TWO VOLS.--VOL. II.
LONDON:
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE-STREET.
MDCCCXXIV.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES,
Northumberland-Court.
CONTENTS
OF
THE SECOND VOLUME.
CHAPTER VIII.
Page
Transactions at Fort Enterprise--Mr. Back's Narrative of his
Journey to Chipewyan, and Return 1
CHAPTER IX.
Continuation of Proceedings at Fort Enterprise--Some Account
of the Copper Indians--Preparations for the Journey to the
Northward 76
CHAPTER X.
Departure from Fort Enterprise--Navigation of the Copper-Mine
River--Visit to the Copper Mountain--Interview with the
Esquimaux--Departure of the Indian Hunters--Arrangements made
with them for our Return 122
CHAPTER XI.
Navigation of the Polar Sea, in two Canoes, as far as Cape
Turnagain, to the Eastward, a distance exceeding Five Hundred
and Fifty Miles--Observations on the probability of a
North-West Passage 193
CHAPTER XII.
Journey across the barren grounds--Difficulty and delay in
crossing Copper-Mine River--Melancholy and fatal Results
thereof--Extreme Misery of the whole Party--Murder of Mr.
Hood--Death of several of the Canadians--Desolate State of
Fort Enterprise--Distress suffered at that Place--Dr.
Richardson's Narrative--Mr. Back's Narrative--Conclusion 237
JOURNEY TO THE SHORES
OF
THE POLAR SEA.
* * * * *
CHAPTER VIII.
Transactions at Fort Enterprise--Mr. Back's Narrative of his
Journey to Chipewyan and Return.
1820. September.
During our little expedition to the Copper-Mine River, Mr. Wentzel had
made great progress in the erection of our winter-house, having nearly
roofed it in. But before proceeding to give an account of a ten months'
residence at this place, henceforth designated Fort Enterprise, I may
premise, that I shall omit many of the ordinary occurrences of a North
American winter, as they have been already detailed in so able and
interesting a manner by Ellis[1], and confine myself principally to the
circumstances which had an influence on our progress in the ensuing
summer. The observations on the magnetic needle, the temperature of the
atmosphere, the Aurora Borealis, and other meteorological phenomena,
together with the mineralogical and botanical notices, being less
interesting to the general reader, are omitted in this edition.
[1] Voyage to Hudson's Bay in the Dobbs and California.
The men continued to work diligently at the house, and by the 30th of
September had nearly completed it for our reception, when a heavy fall
of rain washed the greater part of the mud off the roof. This rain was
remarked by the Indians as unusual, after what they had deemed so
decided a commencement of winter in the early part of the month. The
mean temperature for the month was 33-3/4 deg., but the thermometer had sunk
as low as 16 deg., and on one occasion rose to 53 deg..
Besides the party constantly employed at the house, two men were
appointed to fish, and others were occasionally sent for meat, as the
hunters procured it. This latter employment, although extremely
laborious, was always relished by the Canadians, as they never failed to
use a prescriptive right of helping themselves to the fattest and most
delicate parts of the deer. Towards the end of the month, the rein-deer
began to quit the barren grounds, and came into the vicinity of the
house, on their way to the woods; and the success of the hunters being
consequently great, the necessity of sending for the meat considerably
retarded the building of the house. In the mean time we resided in our
canvas tents, which proved very cold habitations, although we maintained
a fire in front of them, and also endeavoured to protect ourselves from
the piercing winds by a barricade of pine branches.
On the 6th of October, the house being completed, we struck our tents,
and removed into it. It was merely a log-building, fifty feet long, and
twenty-four wide, divided into a hall, three bed rooms and a kitchen.
The walls and roof were plastered with clay, the floors laid with planks
rudely squared with the hatchet, and the windows closed with parchment
of deer-skin. The clay, which from the coldness of the weather, required
to be tempered before the fire with hot water, froze as it was daubed
on, and afterwards cracked in such a manner as to admit the wind from
every quarter; yet, compared with the tents, our new habitation appeared
comfortable; and having filled our capacious clay-built chimney with
fagots, we spent a cheerful evening before the invigorating blaze. The
change was peculiarly beneficial to Dr. Richardson, who, having, in one
of his excursions, incautiously laid down on the frozen side of a hill
when heated with walking, had caught a severe inflammatory sore throat,
which became daily worse whilst we remained in the tents, but began to
mend soon after he was enabled to confine himself to the more equable
warmth of the house. We took up our abode at first on the floor, but our
working party, who had shown such skill as house carpenters, soon proved
themselves to be, with the same tools, (the hatchet and crooked knife,)
excellent cabinet makers, and daily added a table, chair, or bedstead,
to the comforts of our establishment. The crooked knife generally made
of an old file, bent and tempered by heat, serves an Indian or Canadian
voyager for plane, chisel, and auger. With it the snow-shoe and
canoe-timbers are fashioned, the deals of their sledges reduced to the
requisite thinness and polish, and their wooden bowls and spoons
hollowed out. Indeed, though not quite so requisite for existence as the
hatchet, yet without its aid there would be little comfort in these
wilds.
On the 7th we were gratified by a sight of the sun, after it had been
obscured for twelve days. On this and several following days the
meridian sun melted the light covering of snow or hoar frost on the
lichens, which clothe the barren grounds, and rendered them so tender as
to attract great herds of rein-deer to our neighbourhood. On the
morning of the 10th I estimated the numbers I saw during a short walk,
at upwards of two thousand. They form into herds of different sizes,
from ten to a hundred, according as their fears or accident induce them
to unite or separate.
The females being at this time more lean and active, usually lead the
van. The haunches of the males are now covered to the depth of two
inches or more with fat, which is beginning to get red and high
flavoured, and is considered a sure indication of the commencement of
the rutting season. Their horns, which in the middle of August were yet
tender, have now attained their proper size, and are beginning to lose
their hairy covering which hangs from them in ragged filaments. The
horns of the rein-deer vary, not only with its sex and age, but are
otherwise so uncertain in their growth, that they are never alike in any
two individuals. The old males shed their's about the end of December;
the females retain them until the disappearance of the snow enables them
to frequent the barren grounds, which may be stated to be about the
middle or end of May, soon after which period they proceed towards the
sea-coast and drop their young. The young males lose their horns about
the same time with the females or a little earlier, some of them as
early as April. The hair of the rein-deer falls in July, and is
succeeded by a short thick coat of mingled clove, deep reddish, and
yellowish browns; the belly and under parts of the neck, _&c._,
remaining white. As the winter approaches the hair becomes longer, and
lighter in its colours, and it begins to loosen in May, being then much
worn on the sides, from the animal rubbing itself against trees and
stones. It becomes grayish and almost white, before it is completely
shed. The Indians form their robes of the skins procured in autumn, when
the hair is short. Towards the spring the larvae of the oestrus attaining
a large size, produce so many perforations in the skins, that they are
good for nothing. The cicatrices only of these holes are to be seen in
August, but a fresh set of _ova_ have in the mean time been
deposited[2].
[2] "It is worthy of remark, that in the month of May a very great
number of large larvae exist under the mucous membrane at the root
of the tongue, and posterior part of the nares and pharynx. The
Indians consider them to belong to the same species with the
oestrus, that deposits its ova under the skin: to us the larvae of
the former appeared more flattened than those of the latter.
Specimens of both kinds, preserved in spirits, were destroyed by
the frequent falls they received on the portages."--DR.
RICHARDSON'S _Journal_.
The rein-deer retire from the sea-coast in July and August, rut in
October on the verge of the barren grounds, and shelter themselves in
the woods during the winter. They are often induced by a few fine days
in winter, to pay a transitory visit to their favourite pastures in the
barren country, but their principal movement to the northward commences
generally in the end of April, when the snow first begins to melt on the
sides of the hills, and early in May, when large patches of the ground
are visible, they are on the banks of the Copper-Mine River. The females
take the lead in this spring migration, and bring forth their young on
the sea-coast about the end of May or beginning of June. There are
certain spots or passes well known to the Indians, through which the
deer invariably pass in their migrations to and from the coast, and it
has been observed that they always travel against the wind. The
principal food of the rein-deer in the barren grounds, consists of the
_cetraria nivalis_ and _cucullata_, _cenomyce rangiferina_,
_cornicularia ochrileuca_, and other lichens, and they also eat the hay
or dry grass which is found in the swamps in autumn. In the woods they
feed on the different lichens which hang from the trees. They are
accustomed to gnaw their fallen antlers, and are said also to devour
mice.
The weight of a full grown barren-ground deer, exclusive of the offal,
varies from ninety to one hundred and thirty pounds. There is, however,
a much larger kind found in the woody parts of the country, whose
carcase weighs from two hundred to two hundred and forty pounds. This
kind never leaves the woods, but its skin is as much perforated by the
gad-fly as that of the others; a presumptive proof that the smaller
species are not driven to the sea-coast solely by the attacks of that
insect. There are a few rein-deer occasionally killed in the spring,
whose skins are entire, and these are always fat, whereas the others are
lean at that season. This insect likewise infests the red-deer
(_wawaskeesh_,) but its ova are not found in the skin of the moose, or
buffalo, nor, as we have been informed, of the sheep and goat that
inhabit the Rocky Mountains, although the rein-deer found in those
parts, (which are of an unusually large kind,) are as much tormented by
them as the barren-ground variety.
The herds of rein-deer are attended in their migrations by bands of
wolves, which destroy a great many of them. The Copper Indians kill the
rein-deer in the summer with the gun, or taking advantage of a
favourable disposition of the ground, they enclose a herd upon a neck of
land, and drive them into a lake, where they fall an easy prey; but in
the rutting season and in the spring, when they are numerous on the
skirts of the woods, they catch them in snares. The snares are simple
nooses, formed in a rope made of twisted sinew, which are placed in the
aperture of a slight hedge, constructed of the branches of trees. This
hedge is so disposed as to form several winding compartments, and
although it is by no means strong, yet the deer seldom attempt to break
through it. The herd is led into the labyrinth by two converging rows of
poles, and one is generally caught at each of the openings by the noose
placed there. The hunter, too, lying in ambush, stabs some of them with
his bayonet as they pass by, and the whole herd frequently becomes his
prey. Where wood is scarce, a piece of turf turned up answers the
purpose of a pole to conduct them towards the snares.
The rein-deer has a quick eye, but the hunter by keeping to leeward and
using a little caution, may approach very near; their apprehensions
being much more easily roused by the smell than the sight of any unusual
object. Indeed their curiosity often causes them to come close up and
wheel around the hunter; thus affording him a good opportunity of
singling out the fattest of the herd, and upon these occasions they
often become so confused by the shouts and gestures of their enemy, that
they run backwards and forwards with great rapidity, but without the
power of making their escape.
The Copper Indians find by experience that a white dress attracts them
most readily, and they often succeed in bringing them within shot, by
kneeling and vibrating the gun from side to side, in imitation of the
motion of a deer's horns when he is in the act of rubbing his head
against a stone.
The Dog-Rib Indians have a mode of killing these animals, which though
simple, is very successful. It was thus described by Mr. Wentzel, who
resided long amongst that people. The hunters go in pairs, the foremost
man carrying in one hand the horns and part of the skin of the head of a
deer, and in the other a small bundle of twigs, against which he, from
time to time, rubs the horns, imitating the gestures peculiar to the
animal. His comrade follows treading exactly in his footsteps, and
holding the guns of both in a horizontal position, so that the muzzles
project under the arms of him who carries the head. Both hunters have a
fillet of white skin round their foreheads, and the foremost has a strip
of the same kind round his wrists. They approach the herd by degrees,
raising their legs very slowly, but setting them down somewhat suddenly,
after the manner of a deer, and always taking care to lift their right
or left feet simultaneously. If any of the herd leave off feeding to
gaze upon this extraordinary phenomenon, it instantly stops, and the
head begins to play its part by licking its shoulders, and performing
other necessary movements. In this way the hunters attain the very
centre of the herd without exciting suspicion, and have leisure to
single out the fattest. The hindmost man then pushes forward his
comrade's gun, the head is dropt, and they both fire nearly at the same
instant. The herd scampers off, the hunters trot after them; in a short
time the poor animals halt to ascertain the cause of their terror, their
foes stop at the same instant, and having loaded as they ran, greet the
gazers with a second fatal discharge. The consternation of the deer
increases, they run to and fro in the utmost confusion, and sometimes a
great part of the herd is destroyed within the space of a few hundred
yards.
A party who had been sent to Akaitcho returned, bringing three hundred
and seventy pounds of dried meat, and two hundred and twenty pounds of
suet, together with the unpleasant information, that a still larger
quantity of the latter article had been found and carried off, as he
supposed, by some Dog-ribs, who had passed that way.
The weather becoming daily colder, all the lakes in the neighbourhood of
the house were completely, and the river partially, frozen over by the
middle of the month. The rein-deer now began to quit us for more
southerly and better-sheltered pastures. Indeed, their longer residence
in our neighbourhood would have been of little service to us, for our
ammunition was almost completely expended, though we had dealt it of
late with a very sparing hand to the Indians. We had, however, already
secured in the store-house the carcases of one hundred deer, together
with one thousand pounds of suet, and some dried meat; and had,
moreover, eighty deer stowed up at various distances from the house. The
necessity of employing the men to build a house for themselves, before
the weather became too severe, obliged us to put the latter _en cache_,
as the voyagers term it, instead of adopting the more safe plan of
bringing them to the house. Putting a deer _en cache_, means merely
protecting it against the wolves, and still more destructive wolverenes,
by heavy loads of wood or stones; the latter animal, however, sometimes
digs underneath the pile, and renders the precaution abortive.
On the 18th, Mr. Back and Mr. Wentzel set out for Fort Providence,
accompanied by Beauparlant, Belanger, and two Indians, Akaiyazza and
Thoolezzeh, with their wives, the Little Forehead, and the Smiling
Marten. Mr. Back had volunteered to go and make the necessary
arrangements for transporting the stores we expected from Cumberland
House, and to endeavour to obtain some additional supplies from the
establishments at Slave Lake. If any accident should have prevented the
arrival of our stores, and the establishments at Moose-Deer Island
should be unable to supply the deficiency, he was, if he found himself
equal to the task, to proceed to Chipewyan. Ammunition was essential to
our existence, and a considerable supply of tobacco was also requisite,
not only for the comfort of the Canadians, who use it largely, and had
stipulated for it in their engagements, but also as a means of
preserving the friendship of the Indians. Blankets, cloth, and
iron-work, were scarcely less indispensible to equip our men for the
advance next season.
Mr. Wentzel accompanied Mr. Back, to assist him in obtaining from the
traders, on the score of old friendship, that which they might be
inclined to deny to our necessities. I forwarded by them letters to the
Colonial Office and Admiralty, detailing the proceedings of the
Expedition up to this period.
On the 22d we were surprised by a visit from a dog; the poor animal was
in low condition, and much fatigued. Our Indians discovered, by marks on
his ears, that he belonged to the Dog-ribs. This tribe, unlike the
Chipewyans and Copper Indians, had preserved that useful associate of
man, although from their frequent intercourse with the latter people,
they were not ignorant of the prediction alluded to in a former page.
One of our interpreters was immediately despatched, with an Indian, to
endeavour to trace out the Dog-ribs, whom he supposed might be concealed
in the neighbourhood from their dread of the Copper Indians; although we
had no doubt of their coming to us, were they aware of our being here.
The interpreter, however, returned without having discovered any traces
of strange Indians; a circumstance which led us to conclude, that the
dog had strayed from his masters a considerable time before.
Towards the end of the month the men completed their house, and took up
their abode in it. It was thirty-four feet long and eighteen feet wide;
was divided into two apartments, and was placed at right angles to the
officers' dwelling, and facing the store-house: the three buildings
forming three sides of a quadrangle.
On the 26th Akaitcho and his party arrived, the hunting in this
neighbourhood being terminated for the season, by the deer having
retired southward to the shelter of the woods.
The arrival of this large party was a serious inconvenience to us, from
our being compelled to issue them daily rates of provision from the
store. The want of ammunition prevented us from equipping and sending
them to the woods to hunt; and although they are accustomed to subsist
themselves for a considerable part of the year by fishing, or snaring
the deer, without having recourse to fire-arms, yet, on the present
occasion, they felt little inclined to do so, and gave scope to their
natural love of ease, as long as our store-house seemed to be well
stocked. Nevertheless, as they were conscious of impairing our future
resources, they did not fail, occasionally, to remind us that it was not
their fault, to express an ardent desire to go hunting, and to request a
supply of ammunition, although they knew that it was not in our power to
give it.
The summer birds by this time had entirely deserted us, leaving, for our
winter companions, the raven, cinereous crow, ptarmigan, and snow-bird.
The last of the water-fowl that quitted us was a species of diver, of
the same size with the _colymbus arcticus_, but differing from it in the
arrangement of the white spots on its plumage, and in having a yellowish
white bill. This bird was occasionally caught in our fishing nets.
The thermometer during the month of October, at Fort Enterprise, never
rose above 37 deg., or fell below 5 deg.; the mean temperature for the month
was 23 deg..
In the beginning of October a party had been sent to the westward to
search for birch to make snow-shoe frames, and the Indian women were
afterwards employed in netting the shoes and preparing leather for
winter-clothing to the men. Robes of rein-deer skins were also obtained
from the Indians, and issued to the men who were to travel, as they are
not only a great deal lighter than blankets, but also much warmer, and
altogether better adapted for a winter in this climate. They are,
however, unfit for summer use, as the least moisture causes the skin to
spoil, and lose its hair. It requires the skins of seven deer to make
one robe. The finest are made of the skins of young fawns.
The fishing, having failed as the weather became more severe, was given
up on the 5th. It had procured us about one thousand two hundred _white
fish_, from two to three pounds each. There are two other species of
_Coregoni_ in Winter Lake, _Back's grayling_ and the _round fish_; and a
few _trout_, _pike_, _methye_, and _red carp_, were also occasionally
obtained from the nets. It may be worthy of notice here, that the fish
froze as they were taken out of the nets, in a short time became a solid
mass of ice, and by a blow or two of the hatchet were easily split
open, when the intestines might be removed in one lump. If in this
completely frozen state they were thawed before the fire, they recovered
their animation. This was particularly the case with the carp, and we
had occasion to observe it repeatedly, as Dr. Richardson occupied
himself in examining the structure of the different species of fish, and
was, always in the winter, under the necessity of thawing them before he
could cut them. We have seen a carp recover so far as to leap about with
much vigour, after it had been frozen for thirty-six hours.
From the 12th to the 16th we had fine, and for the season, warm weather;
and the deer, which had not been seen since the 26th of October,
reappeared in the neighbourhood of the house, to the surprise of the
Indians, who attributed their return to the barren grounds to the
unusual mildness of the season. On this occasion, by melting some of our
pewter cups, we managed to furnish five balls to each of the hunters,
but they were all expended unsuccessfully, except by Akaitcho, who
killed two deer.
By the middle of the month Winter River was firmly frozen over, except
the small rapid at its commencement, which remained open all the winter.
The ice on the lake was now nearly two feet thick. After the 16th we
had a succession of cold, snowy, and windy weather. We had become
anxious to hear of the arrival of Mr. Back and his party at Fort
Providence. The Indians, who had calculated the period at which a
messenger ought to have returned from thence to be already passed,
became impatient when it had elapsed, and with their usual love of evil
augury tormented us by their melancholy forebodings. At one time they
conjectured that the whole party had fallen through{1} the ice; at
another, that they had been way-laid and cut off by the Dog-ribs. In
vain did we urge the improbability of the former accident, or the
peaceable character of the Dog-ribs, so little in conformity with the
latter. "The ice at this season was deceitful," they said, "and the
Dog-ribs, though unwarlike, were treacherous." These assertions, so
often repeated, had some effect upon the spirits of our Canadian
voyagers, who seldom weigh any opinion they adopt; but we persisted in
treating their fears as chimerical, for had we seemed to listen to them
for a moment, it is more than probable that the whole of our Indians
would have gone to Fort Providence in search of supplies, and we should
have found it extremely difficult to have recovered them.