Thursday, 24th.On the evening of the 24th, as we were about to retire to bed, having given up all hopes of Beaulieu's arrival that day, we heard people talking in the direction of the mouth of the river, and soon afterwards saw a boat and several canoes. A musket being fired to show them our position, they steered for the encampment, and landed opposite to the huts. They proved to be Beaulieu's party, consisting of four Canadians, four Chipewyan hunters, and ten Dog-Ribs, which, with their wives and children, amounted to about thirty in all. We learnt from Beaulieu, that he had been sent off from the Fort by Mr. Dease, on the 6th, with strict injunctions to proceed to the rendezvous with his utmost speed; but he pleaded the badness of the weather and the adverse winds as the cause of his delay. He had not seen the five men I sent off on the 22d, though he had noticed a fire in a bay near Limestone Point, which I had no doubt was made by them; I therefore embarked directly to rejoin them at that place, accompanied by Mr. Kendall and the remainder of our party, two of the Canadians, and an Indian named the Babillard; directing Beaulieu to stay at the huts until he heard from us again. We rowed all night, and soon after day-break reached the spot where the fire had been made, but found no marks to indicate which way our men had gone: neither was there any mark at Limestone Point; I therefore caused a large fire to be made at the latter place, and remained there the whole day.
Saturday, 26th.Our people not appearing on the 26th, I returned in the boat to Dease River, leaving Mr. Kendall and the Babillard at Limestone Point. Beaulieu had seen nothing of the absentees, and it was therefore evident that they had gone on to Haldane River, whither I resolved to proceed in search of them; but that they might not suffer from want of food, if by any chance we missed them, I directed Beaulieu's party to remain where they were, until I sent them permission to depart by two Canadians, whom I took with me on purpose in a small canoe. Mr. Dease had directed Beaulieu to go to M'Tavish Bay to hunt deer, and dry meat for the fort, as soon as we arrived; and as the boat was well adapted for carrying dried provision, I now exchanged it with his north canoe.
Sunday, 27th.We rejoined Mr. Kendall at Limestone Point at day-break on the morning of the 27th, and afterwards paddled along the coast until two p.m., when a strong head-wind obliged us to put ashore. As soon as we landed, I set out with the Babillard for Haldane River, carrying a small quantity of pemmican, lest the people should be in want of food; and after a walk, or rather a run, of five miles, I had the happiness of finding them all well, and with plenty of provisions, as they had killed six deer. Their Indian guide had taken them a little inland, by which they had missed Limestone Point; but they were very sorry it had so happened, when they learned the anxiety they had occasioned to Mr. Kendall and myself, by their not erecting the mark there as they had been directed to do. The wind moderating after sunset, Mr. Kendall joined us with the two canoes, so that the party was again happily reunited. Monday, 28th.On Monday the 28th, I sent back the small canoe with the Babillard and two Canadians, to join Beaulieu, and proceed with the rest of the party in the larger canoe to Fort Franklin, where we arrived on Friday, the 1st of September, and received a warm welcome from Mr. Dease, after an absence of seventy-one days, during which period we had travelled by land and water one thousand seven hundred and nine geographical, or nineteen hundred and eighty statute miles.
Having now brought the Narrative of the proceedings of the Eastern Detachment to a conclusion, the pleasing duty remains of expressing my gratitude to the party for their cheerful and obedient conduct. Not a murmur of discontent was heard throughout the voyage, but every individual engaged with alacrity in the laborious tasks he was called upon to perform. Where all behaved with the greatest zeal, it would be invidious to particularize any; and I am happy in having it in my power to add, that since our return to England, Gillet, Fuller and Tysoe, who were in His Majesty's service previous to their being employed on the Expedition, have been rewarded by promotion. Our good-natured and faithful Esquimaux friend Ooligbuck, carried with him to his native lands the warmest wishes and esteem of the whole party. His attachment to us was never doubtful, even when we were surrounded by a tribe of his own nation.
The general abilities and professional skill of my companion, Lieutenant Kendall, are duly appreciated in higher quarters, and can derive little lustre from any eulogium from me; but I cannot deny myself the gratification of recording my deep sense of the good fortune and happiness I experienced in being associated with a gentleman of such pleasing manners, and one upon whose friendly support and sound judgment I could with confidence rely, on occasions of difficulty and doubt inseparable from such a voyage.
End of Dr. Richardson's Narrative of the Proceedings of the Eastern Detachment.
TABLE of the distances travelled by both Branches of the Expedition, and of the extent of their Discoveries in 1827.
| BY THE WESTERN PARTY. | Statute Miles. |
| From Fort Franklin, by Fort Norman, to Point Separation (river course) | 525 |
| Point Separation to Pillage Point, at the Mouth of the Mackenzie | 129 |
| Pillage Point to Return reef (sea-voyage out) | 374 |
| Return Reef, back to Fort Franklin, including Peel River | 1020 |
| Distance travelled by the Western Party in July, August, September, 1826. | 2048 |