The latter misfortune was attributed by the natives simply and solely to the evil machinations of a stone observatory which the explorers erected at the Fort. The use of the astronomical instruments which it contained was totally beyond their comprehension, and in consequence they adopted what seemed to their untutored minds to be the only rational explanation, namely that they were in some way connected with witchcraft. This opinion was strengthened by the evidence of two Canadian voyagers, who, having chanced to peep into the observatory at the moment when Back and King were taking the dip of the magnetic needle, instantly told their companions that they had caught the white chief in the very act of raising the devil.
More than once during the winter the food supply was in danger of failing. The party, however, was preserved from starvation by Akaitcho, the old Coppermine chief, who put in a timely appearance with a supply of fresh meat. Still the distress at the Fort was often very serious, for not only was food scarce, but the winter was one of the coldest on record. The thermometer often stood at 70° below zero, while some idea of the difficulties attending ablution may be gathered from the fact that, on one occasion, when Back was obliged to wash his face at a distance of three feet from the fire, his hair was clothed with ice before he had time to dry it.
Towards the end of April a messenger arrived at the Fort with news that materially altered Back’s plans, for he brought with him extracts from the Times which told of the safe return of Ross and his party. However, there was still his work of exploration to be carried out, so at the end of June he started off for the Great Fish River, whither carpenters had already been sent to build boats suitable for the voyage to the sea.
The descent of the river actually began on June 27, and was one of the most exciting trips on record. The stream was constantly interrupted by rapids, falls, and rocks, and had not Back been provided with a bowman and a steersman of exceptional nerve and dexterity in Sinclair, a half-breed, and M’Kay, a Highlander, calamity would have overtaken his party before it was very far on its way.
A characteristic story is told of M’Kay which well deserves quotation. At a peculiarly crucial moment, when the boat was being swirled down one of the most dangerous rapids that the expedition had had to negotiate, an oar broke, and the boat and its occupants were within an ace of being hurled incontinently down an appalling fall. The situation proved altogether too much for one member of the crew, who began to cry aloud for Divine assistance. He was interrupted, however, by M’Kay, who yelled at him in a voice which carried even above the roar of the water, “Is this a time for praying? Pull your starboard oar!”
After a most perilous voyage, during which they covered 530 miles and negotiated no fewer than eighty-three falls, rapids, and cascades, Back and his party reached the mouth of the Great Fish River at the end of July. His hopes of being able to penetrate westward as far as Cape Turnagain were, however, doomed to disappointment, for the shore was so encumbered with ice that navigation was out of the question. After waiting for a few days in the hope that the sea would clear he determined to return home, so, after giving the name of King William Land to the big island which lay opposite the mouth of the river, he started on the homeward journey on August 21, reaching his destination on September 17, and in the following year he returned to England. It should be added that, in honour of this voyage, the name of the river was changed to that of Back River.
Back was not destined to remain idle for long, for in 1836 he was despatched by the Government to find a passage from Prince Regent’s Inlet into the Polar Sea, if such a passage existed. According to his instructions he was to make for Wager Inlet or Repulse Bay in the Terror, which had been specially fitted out for the voyage, and was manned by a splendid company, including Robert M’Clure, the future discoverer of the North-West Passage, and Graham Gore, one of Franklin’s companions on his last and fatal expedition. There he was to spend the winter, and in the following year he was to cross the isthmus joining Melville Peninsula to the mainland and pursue his way towards Cape Turnagain.
Unfortunately he was not destined even to reach the scene of operations. Before she had made Southampton Island the Terror was caught in the pack, and all her captain’s efforts to set her free again were unavailing. From this time onwards the situation of the crew was one of perpetual peril. Northerly winds swept the ice down upon her with terrific force, and, had she not been of an exceptionally strong build, she must have been crushed to pieces. As it was, her bolts started and her timbers cracked, till it was found necessary to hold her together with chains passed under her keel.
THE DISRUPTION OF THE ICE ROUND THE “TERROR”
FROM A DRAWING BY CAPT. SMYTH