Tis unnecessary to follow captain Franklin and his party through the numerous obstructions and difficulties they encountered in the first part of their journey, sometimes hurried away with, and sometimes struggling against, the streams of rivers, and dragging their boats and baggage across portions of land. We shall, therefore, begin our account of their expedition from the point where the Great Bear Lake river, flowing out of the lake of the same name, joins the Mackenzie river. It was on the banks of the former, that the party resolved to take up their winter-quarters, and to build a habitation and store, to which, when completed, they gave the name of Fort Franklin.

Having reached this spot so early as the 7th of August, Franklin calculated, that, by setting off immediately, sufficient time would be allowed him to reach the sea at the mouth of the Mackenzie, and return to winter-quarters before the severity of the cold should have set in. He conceived that, by taking a view of the state of the Polar Sea, at that season, with regard to ice, and of the trending of the coast to the westward, he would be enabled to form a tolerably cor

rect notion as to the probability of next year's success. Accordingly, while those best fitted for the purpose were left to complete the construction of the houses, he, with another party, set out on an expedition down to the Bear Lake river and the Mackenzie, to the junction of the latter with the sea.

The Mackenzie falls into the sea in numerous large branches, intersecting an extensive delta of alluvial soil. Captain Franklin was satisfied, on reaching the Whale Island of Mackenzie, the extreme point of that traveller's progress, that he too had reached the sea; and, though on tasting the water, found it to be perfectly fresh, he was not the less convinced, from the great expansion of water to the northward, and the sudden diverging of the shore, that, at this point, he had, in fact, entered into the Polar Sea; and he states that he was the more confirmed in this opinion by the appearance of a seal sporting about the boat. With a determination to leave no doubt remaining as to the fact, he pushed on towards an island much farther out, which looked blue from its distance; and, "under its shelter, the boat passed a line of strong ripples, which marked the termination of

the fresh water, that on the seaward side being brackish; and in the further progress of three miles to the island, he found the water decidedly salt."

To this island, Franklin gave the name of Garry. Its latitude was 69° 29′ N., longitude 135° 41′ W., the variation of the needle, 51° 42′ E.; temperature of the air 52°-of the sea water 51°—of the fresh water 55°. It abounded with layers of wood-coal, similar to that found in the Mackenzie, besides a bituminous liquid trickling down the sides of the cliff. The discovery of this bituminous shale might have been attended with dangerous, perhaps fatal, consequences. In the course of the evening,' says captain Franklin, 'I found that a piece of the wood-coal from Garry's Island, which I had placed in my pocket, had ignited spontaneously, and scorched the metal powder-horn by its side.' Small as this island is, numbers of moose and rein deer, and foxes, were seen upon it; and several kinds of gulls, dotterels, geese, cranes, and swans were flocking around its shores. The vegetation consisted of various shrubby plants in flower, grasses, and mosses; the beach covered with pebbles of granite, greenstone, quartz, and lydian-stone.

From this advanced position, the party made the best of their way back, and joined their companions at winter-quarters on the 5th of September. About the same time, Dr. Richardson returned from the north-eastern shores of Great Bear Lake, where it approached nearest to Coppermine River, whither he had proceeded, for the purpose of fixing upon a spot to which he might bring his party, the following year, from the mouth of that river, in the event of his reaching this ultimate object of his research.

During the passing of a long dreary winter, the Canadians and the Indians were engaged in fishing and hunting for the support of the whole party: during the autumn, the fishing was so successful, that the nets yielded daily from three to eight hundred fish of the kind called herring-salmon,' and occasionally trout, tittameg, and carp. The rein-deer furnished the party but scantily with flesh-meat, and in the winter the supply of this article ceased altogether. The officers had ample employment in making and registering the thermometrical, magnetical, and atmospherical observations, in writing up their journals, finishing the charts, drawings, and sketches, examining and arranging the objects of natural history which had been collected, and in various other matters.

Every thing went on well till the end of the year, but, owing to the extreme severity of the weather in January and February, the sources, whence they had derived their food, failed. All the animals, but the wolf and the fox, had migrated to the southward; the stock of dried meat was expended; the fish caught did not allow more than three or four small herrings to each man; and being out of season, not only afforded very little nourishment, but caused frequent and general indisposition. Under such circumstances, they were obliged to have recourse to their provision of panican and portable soup, which had been set apart for the voyage along the sea-coast.

Dr. Richardson kept a curious "register of phenomena connected with the progress of the seasons at Fort Franklin." From this it appears, that on the 11th of September, the muskitoes ceased to be trou

blesome; on the 2nd of October, the first ice was observed; and on the 5th, the last swan passed to the southward; on the 7th, the last rain fell on the 11th, the last brown duck was noticed. On the 6th of May, the first swans were seen; on the 7th, the geese appeared; on the 8th, the ducks; and on the 9th the gulls arrived ;-on the 11th the first shower fell; on the 16th, the mosses began to sprout; on the 17th, various singing birds and orioles made their appearance, and some swifts and white geese arrived; on the 27th, the laughing-geese were first seen; and on the 31st, the goat-suckers brought up the rear; -on the 3rd of June, the dwarf-birch, willows, and shrubby-potentilla were in leaf -and the anemonies, tussilagos, and the Lapland rose, (rhododendron lapponicum,) and several other plants were in full flower; and on the 26th of July, ripe whortle-berries were brought to the Fort. The lowest temperature occurred on the first of January, when Fahrenheit's thermometer descended to 49°; the highest between the 1st and 10th, was-8° 8'; and the mean-29° 7′.

By the 15th of June, the equip ments of the boats were completed. Fourteen men, including Augustus, (the Exquimaux interpreter) were appointed to accompany captain Franklin and lieutenant Back, in the Lion and Reliance, the two larger boats; and ten, including Ooligbuck, (another Esquimaux) to go with Dr. Richardson and Mr. Kendall, in the Dolphin and Unicorn-the former party to proceed to the westward, the latter to the eastward, of the mouth of the Mackenzie river. On the 28th of June, they all quitted the fort, descended the Mackenzie, and on

the 4th of July, reached that part of the river where it divides into various channels, and where the two parties were to pursue different directions. "We felt," says captain Franklin, "that we were only separating to be employed on services of equal interest; and we looked forward with delight to our next meeting, when, after a successful termination, we might record the incidents of our respective voyages."

The western party had scarcely cleared the branch of the river down which they descended, when they discovered a crowd of tents on an island, with a number of Esquimaux strolling among them. Captain Franklin wished to open a communication with these people, but gave orders that the boats should be kept afloat, and that on no account should any one fire upon them, even if they showed any marks of hostility, until himself or lieutenant Back should set them the example. On approaching the island, they made signs to the Esquimaux to come off. They did so; and " we endeavoured," says Franklin, "to count their numbers as they approached, and had proceeded as far as seventy-three canoes and five oomiaks, when the sea became so crowded by fresh arrivals that we could advance no farther in our reckoning." An amicable trade speedily took place, till an incident happened which produced unforeseen and annoying consequences:

"A kaiyack being overset by one of the Lion's oars, its owner was plunged into the water with his head in the mud, and apparently in danger of being drowned. We instantly extricated him from his unpleasant situation, and took him into the boat until the water could be thrown out of his kaiyack;

and Augustus seeing him shivering with cold, wrapped him up in his own great coat. At first he was exceedingly angry, but soon became reconciled to his situation, and looking about, discovered that we had many bales, and other articles, in the boat, which had been concealed from the people in the kaiyacks, by the coverings being carefully spread over all. He soon began to ask for every thing he saw, and expressed much displeasure on our refusing to comply with his demands; he also, we afterwards learned, excited the cupidity of others by his account of the inexhaustible riches in the Lion, and several of the younger men endeavoured to get into both our boats, but we resisted all their attempts."

They now pressed forward in crowds, and stole every thing they could lay their hands on. They began to drag the Reliance towards the shore, and soon after her the Lion:

"Two of the most powerful men, says captain Franklin, jumping on board at the same time, seized me by the wrists and forced me to sit between them; and as I shook them loose two or three times, a third Esquimaux took his station in front to catch my arm whenever I attempted to lift my gun, or the broad dagger which hung by my side. The whole way to the shore they kept repeating the word teyma,' beating gently on my left breast with their hands, and pressing mine against their breasts. As we neared the beach, two oomiaks, full of women, arrived, and the teymas' and vociferation were redoubled. The Reliance was first brought to the shore, and the Lion close to her a few seconds afterwards. The

three men who held me now leaped ashore, and those who had remained in their canoes taking them out of the water, carried them to a little distance. A numerous party then drawing their knives, and stripping themselves to the waist, ran to the Reliance, and, having first hauled her as far up as they could, began a regular pillage, handing the articles to the women, who, ranged in a row behind, quickly conveyed them out of sight."

In short, after a furious contest, in which knives were brandished in the most threatening manner, and several of the men had their clothes cut through, lieutenant Back ordered his people to seize and level their muskets, but not to fire till the word was given: this had the desired effect; the whole party taking to their heels, and hiding themselves behind the drift timber on the beach. Captain Franklin still thought it best to temporize while the boats were lying aground, for, armed as they were with long knives, bows, arrows, and spears, fire-arms could not have been used with advantage; and he states his conviction, that such was the high excitement to which they had wrought themselves, that the first blood his party had shed would instantly have been revenged by the sacrifice of all their lives.

Augustus now volunteered to go on shore and remonstrate with his countrymen on their bad conduct; they pleaded in mitigation thereof that they had never seen white people before, and that every thing was so new to them and so desirable, that they could not resist the temptation of stealing; they promised they would never do the like again; and, as a proof of their sincerity, restored the articles that had been stolen. Their real in

tention, however, as it afterwards appeared, was to possess themselves of all the property by murdering the whole party. After this, the exploring party met with no interruption from the natives, with whom they had frequent intercourse as they proceeded along the coast, sometimes meeting with very numerous parties, taking the precaution, however, of keeping the boats afloat, as far as it was possible, whenever they approached their stations.

It was observed that the farther they advanced to the westward the native Esquimaux bore a nearer resemblance to those well-known Tartar features of high cheek bones and small elongated eyes.

Every man had pieces of bone or shells thrust through the septum of his nose; and holes were pierced on each side of the under lip, in which were placed circular pieces of ivory, with a large blue beard in the centre, similar to those represented in the drawings of the natives on the N. W. coast of America, in Kotzebue's Voyage. These ornaments were so much valued, that they declined selling them; and, when not rich enough to procure beads or ivory, stones and pieces of bone were substituted. These perforations are made at the age of puberty; and one of the party, who appeared to be about fourteen years old, was pointed out, with delight, by his parents, as having to undergo the operation in the following year. He was a good-looking boy, and we could not fancy his countenance would be much improved by the insertion of the bones or stones, which have the effect of depressing the under lip, and keeping the mouth open.

"With regard to the women,"

captain Franklin observes, "their own black hair is very tastefully turned up from behind to the top of the head, and tied by strings of white and blue beads, or cords of white deer-skin. It is divided in front, so as to form on each side a thick tail, to which are appended strings of beads that reach to the waist. The women were from four feet and a half to four and three-quarters high, and generally fat. Some of the younger females, and the children, were pretty. The lady whose portrait adorns this work, was mightily pleased at being selected by lieutenant Back for his sketch, and testified her joy by smiles and many jumps. The men, when sitting for their portraits, were more sedate, though not less pleased, than the females; some of them remarked that they were not handsome enough to be taken to our country."

Having passed the first range of the Rocky Mountains, and between it and the second, a large river, at least two miles broad, was observed to empty itself into the Polar Sea, after coming, as the Esquimaux informed them, from a distant part of the interior. Near to Herschel's Island, in latitude 69° 33′ N., longitude 139° 3′ W., was another river, which they call the Mountain Indian River. Here they fell in with a party of Esquimaux, who traded up that river and to the westward with their countrymen, who obtain their goods from white people, and which Franklin had no doubt, from the appearance of the articles, were of Russian manufacture. There is another large river, to which they gave the name of Clarence: they found among the drift timber on the beach, a pine-tree, seven feet and a quarter in girth and thirty