1833
- Preliminary Chapter
- "(p. 1) EARLY in the year 1832 the protracted absence of Captain (now Sir John)
Ross, who had sailed in 1829 to the Polar regions, and had not after-wards been heard of,
became the subject of general and anxious conversation. A report even reached Italy,
where I happened to be, that he and his adventurous companions had perished; but,
having ascertained that there was no other ground for this rumour than the uncertainty of
their fate, I shortly afterwards hastened to England, with the intention of offering to
Government my services to conduct an expedition in search of them."
- 4 February, 1833 - Appoinmtent of George Back to lead the Expedition
- "(p. 13) "The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty having been pleased to lend your
services to this office, that you may conduct an expedition now preparing to proceed to
the Polar Sea in search of Captain Ross, you are hereby required and directed to undertake
this service, placing yourself for the purpose at the disposition of the Governor and
Committee of the Hudson’s Bay Company, who have undertaken to furnish you with the requisite
resources and supplies."
- Departure from England
- "ON Sunday, the 17th of February, 1833, accompanied by Mr. Richard King and three men, two
of whom had gained experience under Sir J. Franklin, I embarked in the packet ship Hibernia,
Captain Maxwell, from Liverpool; and, after a somewhat boisterous passage of thirty-five days,
during part of which the ship was entangled amongst ice on St. George’s Bank, arrived at
New York."
- 9 April 1833
- "From Albany we travelled in coaches or waggons, according to the quality of the roads; and
reached Montreal on the 9th of April, a day earlier than I had promised six months before."
- 11 May
- "... we reached the Sault de Ste. Marie, at the head of the lake, and the extreme point
to which civilisation has yet extended, "
- 20 May
- "... we arrived at Fort William, much to the astonishment of Mr. D. M‘Intosh, the
gentleman in charge, who assured us that the light canoes of the preceding season had been
fully twelve days later. It was here that the large canoes were to be exchanged for smaller,
better calculated to overcome the numerous impediments which obstruct the navigation of
the inland rivers; ..."
- 26 May
- "... the despatch canoe (a sort of mail) overtook us at the Savannah portage; and I
gladly seized the opportunity it afforded me of sending a letter to Mr. Simpson,"
- 6 June
- "...we arrived at Fort Alexander, situated at the southern extremity. of Lake Winnepeg."
- 17 June
- "... having hoisted the Company’s flag, we arrived at the depot called Norway House,
situated on Jack River."
- 1 July
- "An opportune change in the weather allowed us to get away; and, having passed the
limestone rocks bordering that part of the lake, we shortly arrived at the Grand Rapid,
the interesting particulars of which are too well and too minutely described in Sir
John Franklin’s Narratives, to require or even justify a repetition here."
- 5 July - Arrival at Cumberland House
- "The crew had dressed themselves out in all their finery, - silver bands, tassels,
and feathers in their hats, - intending to approach the station with some effect;
but, unhappily for the poor fellows, the rain fell in torrents, their feathers drooped,and
such was the accumulation of mud, that it was necessary to wade a full mile before we
could land at Cumberland House."
- 21 July
- "It was the 2lst of July when we reached Portage la Loche, the high ridge of land which
divides the waters running into Hudson’s Bay from those which direct their course to the
Arctic Sea. For about six or seven miles on this portage, the voyageurs are exposed to
temporary but acute suffering, from the total absence of good water to quench the thirst,
aggravated, in our case, by carrying loads of 200 lbs. in an atmosphere of 68° of Fahrenheit.
They are, at the same time, incessantly tormented by myriads of insatiable mosquitoes and
horse-flies, significantly called "bull dogs," which, delighted with the rare treat of a
human subject, banquet on their victims till, not unfrequently, the face streams with blood."
- 29 July - Arrive at Fort Chippewyan
- "After some detentions of an ordinary kind, we got to Fort Chippewyan on the 29th of July.
We arrived so early, that we were not in the least expected; and the canoe was not seen
until within a short distance of the land, - a circumstance by no means pleasing to the guide,
who, besides his own decorations of many coloured feathers, &c., had taken more than ordinary
pains to display to the best advantage the crimson beauties of a large silk flag."
- 8 August - Fort Resolution
- On the 8th of August we reached Great Slave Lake, and were received at Fort Resolution
by Mr. M‘Donnell, the gentleman in charge."
- 18 August - Discovery of the Thlew-ee-choh River (Great Fish River)
- "... launching past some rocks, which had shut out the land in their direction, we
opened suddenly on a small bay, at the bottom of which was seen a splendid fall, upwards
of sixty feet high, rushing in two white and misty volumes into the dark gulf below.
It was the object of our search - the river which we were to ascend;:
- September - Fort Reliance
- (p. 190) "The site of our intended dwelling was a level bank of gravel and sand, covered
with reindeer moss, shrubs, and trees, and looking more like a park than part of an American
forest. It formed the northern extremity of a bay, from twelve to fifteen miles long, and of
a breadth varying from three to five miles, named after my friend Mr.M'CLeod. [...]
In a few days, the framework of the house and observatory were up; but, in consequence of
the smallness of the trees, and the distance from which they were carried, our progress in
filling up the walls was necessarily slow."
- October
- (p. 194) "Starving Indians continued to arrive from every point of the compass, declaring
that the animals had left the Barren Lands where they had hitherto been accustomed to feed at
this season; and that the calamity was not confined to the Yellow Knives, but that the
Chipewyans also were as forlorn and destitute as themselves. There is no reasoning with a
hungry belly, that I am acquainted with."
- November
- (p. 205) "On the 5th of November, we had the pleasure of changing our cold tents for the
comparative comfort of the house, which, like most of those in this country, was constructed
of a framework, filled up with logs let into grooves, and closely plastered with a cement
composed of common clay and sand. The roof was formed of a number of single slabs, extending
slantingly from the ridge pole to the eaves; and the whole was rendered tolerably tight by a
mixture of dry grass, clay, and sand, which was beat dawn between the slabs, and subsequently
coated over with a thin layer of mud. The house was fifty feet long and thirty broad;..."
- December
- (p. 219) "Christmas-Day ...Mr. King and I made a cheerful dinner of pemmican. Happiness
on such occasions depends entirely on the mood and temper of the individuals; and we cheated
ourselves into as much mirth at the fancied sayings and doings of our friends at home, as if
we had partaken of the roast beef and plum pudding which doubtless "smoked upon the board"
on that glorious day of prescriptive feasting."
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1834
- February. - Prparations to build two boats
- (p. 236) "The uncertainty of the means of subsistence, and the almost daily distresses
and disappointments by which we were harassed, had interfered with many, and altogether
marred some, of my plans; among others, the important task of preparing the materials
for the construction of two light boats to take us along the coast had been hitherto
suspended. The time, however, had now arrived when further delay was impossible.
Accordingly, the two carpenters, with Sinclair (a steersman), were sent to the clump
of pines found by De Charlôit in September last, and directed to saw sufficient planking
for the purpose."
- 26 March - News from York Factory
- (p. 240) ".. a person arrived late in the evening with the packet from York Factory,
which we had been expecting daily for the last six weeks. The happiness which this
announcement instantly created can be appreciated by those only who, like us, have been
outside the pale of civilisation, and felt the blessing of communication with their friends
but once through a long twelvemonth."
- 25 April - News of return of Captain Ross
- (p. 245) ""Captain Ross, Sir" Captain Ross is returned." "Eh! are you quite sure?
is there no error? where is the account from?" The man paused, looked at me, and pointing
with his finger said, "You have it in your hand, sir. It was so; but the packet had been
forgotten in the excitement and hurry of my feelings. Two open extracts from the Times and
Morning Herald confirmed the tidings; and my official letter, with others from the longlost
adventurers themselves [...] removed all possible doubt, and evinced at the same time the
powerful interest which the event had awakened in the public, by a great proportion of whom
the party had long since been numbered among the dead."
- 5 May - Decide to carry on exploration
- (p. 247) "... now, when I knew of Captain Ross’s safety, [...] I determined at once on going
with one boat instead of two along the coast, selecting the best men for my crew. This,
in fact, was the only means left by which I could execute my instructions, and discharge
the duty that I owed to the public; for though the enthusiasm that had before animated
us was now of course much abated, it still set with a strong, because concentrated, stream,
towards the region of discovery."
- 13 May
- (p. 248) ".. a single goose, the harbinger of summer, flew past the house; and during
the day it was followed by five more, all of which took a northerly direction. This was
six days later than they had been seen in 1826 at Fort Franklin, though a higher northern
latitude."
- May - Weather
- (p. 252) "Towards the end of the month, the weather became sultry, the temperature in
the sun being 106°; an extraordinary contrast to that of the 17th January, when it
was 70° below zero."
- 7 June - Start of new exploration
- (p. 255) "It now only remained to block up the windows and doors; which done, the four
persons remaining with me, including the guide, were laden with burdens of ninety pounds
each, and two dogs, equipped with saddle bags, carrying meat for the journey; and thus
appointed, I left Fort Reliance, accompanied by Mr. King, a little past noon of the 7th June.
- - Meet again Green-stockings
- (p. 306) " In the midst of one of these groups was my old acquaintance and Indian
belle, who will be remembered by the readers of Sir J. Franklin’s narrative under the name
of Green Stockings. Though surrounded by a family, with one urchin in her cloak clinging to
her back, and sundry other maternal accompaniments, I immediately recognised her, and called
her by her name; at which she laughed, and said "she was an old woman now," begging, at
the same time, that she might be relieved by the "medicine man, for she was very much out
of health." However, notwithstanding all this, she was still the beauty of her tribe; and,
with that consciousness which belongs to all belles, savage or polite, seemed by no means
displeased when I sketched her portrait."
- 29 July - Reach the Polar sea
- (p. 390) "This then may be considered as the mouth of the Thlew-ee-choh, which, after a
violent and tortuous course of five hundred and thirty geographical miles, running through
an iron-ribbed country without a single tree on the whole line of its banks, expanding into
fine large lakes with clear horizons, most embarrassing to the navigator, and broken into
falls, cascades, and rapids, to the number of no less than eighty-three in the whole,
pours its waters into the Polar Sea in latitude 67° 11’ 00” N., and longitude 94° 30' 0" W.;
that is to say, about thirty-seven miles more south than the mouth of the Copper Mine River,
and nineteen miles more south than that of Back’s River at the lower extremity of
Bathurst’s Inlet."
- 14 August - Decide to return from exploration towards Point Turnagain
(p. 427) "Thus circumstanced, therefore, and reflecting on the long and dangerous stream,
combining all the bad features of the worst rivers in the country, that we had to retrace,
the hazards of the falls and rapids, and the slender hope which remained of our attaining
even a single mile farther, I felt that I had no choice, and, assembling the men, I informed
them that the period fixed by his Majesty’s Government for my return had arrived; and that
it now only remained to unfurl the British flag, and salute it with three cheers in honour
of His Most Gracious Majesty,
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1835
- 28 May - Depart for Montreal
- The morning [...] was so fine, and the channel so free from obstruction, that I immediately
prepared for my departure, having arranged that Hassel should follow in one of the Company’s
boats, and take the place of the person who was appointed to accompany me. Accordingly,
provided with every thing that was necessary for the journey, I took leave of my kind friend
Mr. Smith, [...]"
- 24 June - Norway House
- End of July - Reach Sault Ste. Marie
- 6 August - Arrive at Montreal
- 17 August - Sail from New York for England
- 8 September - Arrive in London
- (p. 472) "On my arrival in London, I had the honour of laying my chart and drawings before
the Right Hon. Lord Glenelg, Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies, [...]
I was soon after honoured with an audience by His Majesty; who was condescending enough to
manifest a gracious interest in the discoveries which it had been my good fortune to make,
and to express his approbation of my humble efforts, first in the cause of humanity, and next
in that of geographical and scientific research."
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