On Mr. Dease questioning some of the elderly men as to their knowledge of a supreme Being, they replied—"We believe that there is a Great Spirit, who created every thing, both us and the world for our use. We suppose that he dwells in the lands from whence the white people come, that he is kind to the inhabitants of those lands, and that there are people there who never die: the winds that blow from that quarter (south) are always warm. He does not know the wretched state of our island, nor the pitiful condition in which we are."
To the question, whom do your medicine men address when they conjure? They answered,—"We do not think that they speak to the master of life, for if they did, we should fare better than we do, and should not die. He does not inhabit our lands."
December.On the evening of the 1st of December a brilliant comet appeared in the western quarter, which had been indistinctly seen the two preceding nights. A line drawn through alpha and eta Ursæ Majoris led to its position; it also formed a trapezium with alpha Aquilæ and alpha Lyræ and alpha Coronæ Borealis. This was the last night of its being visible. The temperature had been unusually high for several days, about this time +18 above zero; and, with the exception of the night of the 1st, the atmosphere gloomy; and we amused ourselves with conjecturing, whether this extraordinary warmth, and the density of the clouds, could in any way be ascribed to the comet.
At Christmas we were favoured by a visit from Mr. Brisbois, to whom we felt much obliged for the care he had taken of our sea-stores, beside many personal civilities. The visit of a stranger is always heartily welcomed in such a desolate region, and to provide for the entertainment of the party during Mr. Brisbois's stay, Captain Back and Mr. Kendall displayed their ingenuity in cutting out several pasteboard figures, to represent behind an illuminated screen the characters of a comic piece, which Captain Back had written for the occasion. The exhibition was entirely new to most of the party, and its execution afforded such general amusement, that it was repeated on three nights at the request of the men. January.The New Year was celebrated by a dance, which closed our festivities; and on Mr. Brisbois quitting us the following day, we resumed our ordinary occupations. Two Hare Indians arrived at the fort, whom Mr. Kendall recognised as the persons who had brought provisions to Dr. Richardson's party, as soon as they had heard of his having reached the Bear Lake Portage; and we had much pleasure in rewarding their promptitude on that occasion, by a substantial present and a silver medal. They were particularly pleased at the medals, and assured us that they should be proud to show them to the rest of their tribe as tokens of our approbation.
On the evening of the 4th of January, the temperature being -52.2°, Mr. Kendall froze some mercury in the mould of a pistol bullet, and fired it against a door at the distance of six paces. A small portion of the mercury penetrated to the depth of one eighth of an inch, but the remainder only just lodged in the wood. Much snow fell in the second week of January; and on the 12th, we ascertained that its average depth was two feet in the sheltered parts of the woods. The weather became mild after the 20th; and on the 22nd, the sun's rays were so powerful as to raise a spirit thermometer with a blackened bulb, to +30.5°, when the temperature of the air was -3.5°. A very brilliant and clearly defined parhelion was visible at the time, and there were only a few light clouds. The wind was east, and as usual, with the wind from that quarter when the sky is clear, the distant land appeared much distorted by refraction.
The documents which had been preparing being now nearly finished, we sent for the cariole, &c. from Fort Norman. When the men came back, they brought the information, that, according to the report of the Indians, the ice was so rough on the Mackenzie above Fort Norman, that travelling would be extremely difficult. 18th.I therefore abandoned the intention of proceeding by that way, and resolved on passing through the woods to Fort Simpson, as soon as guides could be procured. The delay afforded me the opportunity of registering the lowest temperature we had witnessed in this country. At a quarter after eight in the morning of the 7th of February, the February.thermometer descended to -58°; it had been -57.5° degrees, and 57.3° thrice in the course of this and the preceding day—between the 5th and 8th, its general state was from -48° to -52°, though it occasionally rose to -43°.
At Fort Enterprise, during a similar degree of cold, the atmosphere had been calm: but here we had a light wind, which sometimes approached to a fresh breeze. The sky was cloudless the whole time. Some of our men, as well as the Indians, were travelling on the lake during this cold without experiencing any greater inconvenience than having their faces frost bitten. The dogs, however, suffered severely, three being completely lamed by the frost, and all of them becoming much thinner.[15] These cold days were followed by windy though mild weather, which brought the rein-deer nearer to the Establishment; and our hunters killed seven within a day's march. Their reappearance in our neighbourhood was very gratifying to the whole party, as we were heartily tired of a fish-diet, and I felt an especial pleasure at being able to quit the place without the least apprehension of the party being in want of provision.
The following is a list of the amount of provision we obtained at Fort Franklin, from the time of Mr. Dease's arrival to the close of January 1827; independent of the supplies of pemmican, &c. for the sea voyage, which were procured from the Hudson's Bay Company.
Small Fish, Bear Lake Herring, 79,440.—Trout, 3,475.—Pounds of fresh meat, 24,053.—Dried ribs of Rein Deer, 2,370.—Pounds of pounded deer's meat, 1,744.—Pounds of fat or tallow, 2,929.—Rein-deer tongues, 1,849.—Beaver, 12.—Partridges, 386.—Hares, 52.
On the 16th of February, Augustus and two Dog-Ribs were sent forward to be at the track in the line of my intended route. My departure being fixed for the 20th, the charts, drawings, journals, and provisions were distributed between the cariole and three sledges of which my train consisted; and as the dogs were in too weak a condition for drawing heavy burdens, two Indians were engaged, to accompany us four days, for the purpose of carrying part of the pemmican. I afterwards delivered written instructions to Captain Back, directing him to proceed to York Factory as soon as the ice should break, and from thence, by the Hudson's Bay ship, to England, taking with him the British party, but to send the Canadians to Montreal. Augustus and Ooligbuck were to be forwarded to Churchill, that they might rejoin their relatives.