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"Immediately under the sandy soil on which the house stood,
there is a bed of tenacious bluish clay, of unknown thickness,
which, even in the months of August and September, was firmly
frozen at the depth of twenty-one inches from the surface. No
rocks were exposed in any part, and wherever the surface had
been torn up, a clayey soil appeared. Many boulder stones of
granite, lime-stone, sand-stone, and trap rocks, were scattered
about the lake, not far from the shore. The trees at some distance from our fort consisted of black and white spruce, and larch, generally small, though a few of the better grown measured from four to five feet in girth, and were from fifty to fifty-five feet high. Dr. Richardson ascertained, by counting the annual rings, that some of them, in a sound state, were upwards of one hundred and thirty years old; while others, which were not much greater in size, had two hundred and fifty rings, but these were decayed at the heart. The officers had done me the honour, previous to my arrival, of giving the name of Franklin to the fort, which I felt a grateful pleasure in retaining at their desire, though I had intended naming it Fort Reliance. The number of persons belonging to the establishment amounted to fifty: consisting of five officers, including Mr. Dease; nineteen British seamen, marines, and voyagers; nine Canadians; two Esquimaux; Beaulieu, and four Chipewyan hunters; three women, six children, and one Indian lad; besides a few infirm Indians, who required temporary support." |
