The ground was covered with snow, no open water was visible from the highest capes, and the winter appeared to have set in with rigour. I found myself, therefore, reluctantly compelled to abandon the boats, and to prosecute the journey to our winter residence on Great Bear Lake, by land. The pemican and ammunition were carefully concealed for future use, the boats were hauled up on the beach, and the party directed to prepare for the march. The baggage, consisting of thirteen days' provisions, cooking utensils, hatchets, astronomical instruments, the ammunition, a few books, two nets with several setting lines, Halkett's portable boat, a package of dried plants, my bedding, and a few articles of clothing, were distributed by lot. Each man carried in addition to his assigned load, his own blanket, moccassins, and such articles of clothing as he chose. All were furnished with snow shoes. Mr. Rae carried the greatest part of his own bedding and spare clothing. We set out on the 2nd of September, and on the following day came to an encampment of Esquimaux. They cheerfully ferried us across the mouth of a wide river, which I named the Rae. We afterwards crossed the Richardson in Lieutenant Halkett's boat, and following the line of the Coppermine and of its tributary, the Kendall, we gained a branch of Dease river; and, on the thirteenth day reached our destined quarters at Fort Confidence. Our march through half-frozen swamps, or over hills covered with snow, was necessarily toilsome; but by keeping as much as possible in the river valleys we had to pass only one night without firing, for the purposes of cookery. In a thick fog, during which we were able to proceed in the proper direction by compass, James Hope and his Indian companion, who had been dispatched by Mr. Bell to meet us, lost their way, and so missed us; but, on coming to our trail on the Kendall, they perceived that we had passed, and returned to Fort Confidence two days after our arrival there. In the voyage between the Mackenzie and Coppermine, I carefully executed their Lordships' instructions with respect to the examination of the coast-line, and became fully convinced that no ships had passed within view of the mainland. It is, indeed, nearly impossible that they could have done so unobserved by some of the numerous parties of Esquimaux on the look. out for whales. We were, moreover, informed by the Esquimaux of Back's Inlet, that the ice had been pressing on their shore nearly the whole summer, and its closely packed condition when we left it, on the 4th of September, made it highly improbable that it would open for ship navigation later in the season. I regretted extremely that the state of the ice prevented me from crossing to Wollaston land, and thus completing in one season the whole scheme of their Lordships' instructions. The opening between Wollaston and Victoria lands has always appeared to me to possess great interest, for through it the flood tide evidently sets into Coronation Gulf, diverging to the westward by the Dolphin and Union Strait, and to the eastward round Cape Alexander. By the fifth clause of Sir John Franklin's instructions, he is directed to steer south-westward from Cape Walker, which would lead him nearly in the direction of the strait in question. If Sir John found Barrow Strait as open as when Sir Edward Parry passed it on four previous occasions, I am convinced that (complying as exactly as he could with his instructions, and without looking into Wellington Sound, or other openings either to the south or north of Barrow Strait,) he pushed directly west to Cape Walker, and from thence south-westwards. If so, the ships were probably shut up on some of the passages between Victoria, Banks, and Wollasten lands. This opinion, which I advocated in my former communications, is rather strength ened by the laborious journeys of Sir James Ross having disclosed no traces of the missing ships. Being apprehensive that the boats I left on the coast would be broken up by the Esquimaux, and being, moreover, of opinion that the examination of the opening in question might be safely and efficiently performed in the only remaining boat I had fit for transport from Bear Lake to the Coppermine, I determined to entrust this important service to Mr. Rae, who volunteered, and whose ability and zeal in the cause I cannot too highly commend. He selected an excellent crew, all of them experienced voyageurs, and capable of finding their way back to Bear Lake without guides, should any unforeseen accident deprive them of their leader. In the month of March (1849) a sufficient supply of pemican and other necessary stores, with the equipments of the boat, were transported over the snow on dog sledges, to a navigable part of the Kendall river, and left there under the charge of two men. As soon as the Dease broke up in June, Mr. Rea would follow with the boat, the rest of the crew and a party of Indian hunters, and would descend the Coppermine river about the middle of July, at which time the sea generally begins to break up. He would then as soon as possible, cross from Cape Krusenstern to Wollastan land, and endeavour to penetrate to the northward, erecting signal columns and making deposits on conspicuous headlands, and especially on the north shore of Bank's land should he be fortunate enough to attain that coast. He was further instructed not to hazard the safety of his party by remaining too long on the north side of Dolphin and Union Strait, and to be guided in his movements by the season, the state of the ice, and such intelligence as he might obtain from the Esquimaux. He was, moreover, directed to report his proceedings to their Lordships immediately on his return, and should his dispatches experience no delay on the route, they may be expected in England in April or May next. He was also requested to engage one or more families of Indian hunters to pass the summer of 1850 on the banks of the Coppermine river, to be ready to assist any party that may direct their course that way. With respect to the recommendation of additional measures in furtherance of the humane views of their Lordships, it is necessary to take into account the time for which the discovery ships were provisioned. Deer migrate over the ice in the spring from the main shore to Victoria and Wollaston lands, in large herds, and return in the autumn. These lands are also the breeding places of vast flocks of snow geese; so that with ordinary skill in hunting, a large supply of food might be procured on their shores in the months of June, July, and August. Seals are also numerous in those seas and are easily shot, their curiosity rendering them a ready prey to a boat party. In these ways and by fishing, the stock of provisions might be greatly augmented. And we have the recent example of Mr. Rae, who passed a severe winter on the very barren shores of Repulse Bay, with no other fuel than the withered tufts of a herbaceous andromada, and maintained a numerous party on the spoils of the chase alone for a whole year. Such instances forbid us to lose hope. Should Sir John Franklin's provisions became so far reduced as to be inadequate to a winter's consumption, it is not likely that he would remain longer by his ships, but rather that in one body, or in several, the officers and crews, with boats cut down so as to be light enough to drag over the ice, or built expressly for that purpose, would endeavour to make their way eastward to Lancaster Sound, or southward to the main land, according to the longitude in which the ships were arrested. I would therefore beg leave to suggest that the Hudson's Bay Company be authorised and requested to NO. 2.-VOL. XIX. promise liberal rewards to Indians and Esquimaux who may relieve white men entering their lands. Some parties of Esquimaux frequenting the coast to the westward of the Mackenzie are in the habit of passing the winter in the vicinity of the Hudson's Bay Company's post on the Rat river (a tributary of the Peel), and might be interested in the cause by judicious promises. The Russian Fur Company have a post on the Yucon or Colvile, which falls into the Arctic Sea about midway between the Mackenzie and Behring Straits, and through their officers similar offers might be made to the western Esquimaux. We know from the narrative of Sir John Franklin's discovery of that coast, and also from the subsequent voyage of Messrs. Dease and Simpson, that the Esquimaux who frequent the estuary of the Mackenzie meet those from Point Barrow, at an intermediate point, for the purposes of barter; and in this way intelligence of any interesting occurrence is conveyed along the coast. The Russian post on the Colvile receives its supplies from a post in Norton Sound, where it would be easy for any vessel bound to Behring Straits to land a communication. Mr. Rae, having been appointed to the charge of the Mackenzie River fur district, will give a proper direction to the efforts of Indian hunters in that quarter. As it is thought by some, whose opinion I highly value, that the discovery ships may have penetrated to the westward in so high a latitude as not to come within sight of the main land, I may further suggest the desirableness of the examination of the western coasts of Bank's and Parry's Islands, but as this would require a ship expedition by way of Behring Straits, I must leave the discussion of the practicability of such a scheme to the able executive officers who have navigated the northern seas. Having thus, Sir, in a more diffuse manner than is usual in an official letter, but in accordance with my sense of the deep interest felt on the subject, not only by my Lords Commissioners, but by the nation at large, and I may add by the whole civilized world, recapitulated the proceedings of the expedition, and detailed my opinions, I have only to add, that after the return of Mr. Rae and myself from the coast in September, 1848, we devoted our leisure during the winter to observations on the magnetic intensity and force, with the uniplar magnetometer, and Dr. Lloyd's inclinometer, and kept hourly registers for fourteen hours each day of the declinometer, barometer, thermometer, and wind vane. In the beginning of May, 1849, Mr. Bell and I taking with us all the Europeans of the party then remaining at the fort, and such of the Canadians as were not to be employed with Mr. Rae on his summer expedition, crossed Great Bear Lake on the ice, and when the navigation opened in June, ascended the Mackenzie, and retraced my outward route. We were stopped by ice on Great Slave Lake till the 11th of July. On reaching Methy Portage, Mr. Bell resumed his duties in the Company's service, and I proceeded with a party to Norway House, where I discharged the Canadians, whose term of engagement had expired, and sent the seamen and sappers and miners to York Factory, there to embark in the company's ship bound for England. I then continued my voyage to Canada in a canoe, and after passing two days at Montreal with Sir George Simpson in examining the charges for supplies furnished to the expedition, proceeded to Boston for embarkation, in the mail steamer. I am, Sir, &c. JOHN RICHARDSON, Med. Insp. Commanding the Arctic Searching Expedition. EXAMINATION OF MASTERS AND MATES. A List of the Masters and Mates in the Merchant Service, who have voluntarily passed an Examination, and obtained Certificates of Qualification for the Class against each assigned, under the Regulations issued by the Board of Trade, to the 30th November last. MASTERS. Those having an Asterisk (*) prefixed to their Names served last as Mates. |