The Journey to the Polar Sea

by John Franklin

The next morning was warm and very fine. Everyone was on the alert at an early hour, being anxious to commence the journey. Our luggage consisted of ammunition, nets, hatchets, ice chisels, astronomical instruments, clothing, blankets, three kettles, and the two canoes, which were each carried by one man. The officers carried such a portion of their own things as their strength would permit; the weight carried by each man was about ninety pounds, and with this we advanced at the rate of about a mile an hour including rests. In the evening the hunters killed a lean cow out of a large drove of musk-oxen; but the men were too much laden to carry more than a small portion of its flesh. The alluvial soil which, towards the mouth of the river, spreads into plains covered with grass and willows, was now giving place to a more barren and hilly country, so that we could but just collect sufficient brushwood to cook our suppers. The part of the river we skirted this day was shallow and flowed over a bed of sand, its width about one hundred and twenty yards. About midnight our tent was blown down by a squall and we were completely drenched with rain before it could be repitched.

On the morning of the 1st of September a fall of snow took place; the canoes became a cause of delay from the difficulty of carrying them in a high wind, and they sustained much damage through the falls of those who had charge of them. The face of the country was broken by hills of moderate elevation but the ground was plentifully strewed with small stones which, to men bearing heavy burdens and whose feet were protected only by soft moose-skin shoes, occasioned great pain. At the end of eleven miles we encamped and sent for a musk-ox and a deer which St. Germain and Augustus had killed. The day was extremely cold, the thermometer varying between 34 and 36°. In the afternoon a heavy fall of snow took place on the wind changing from north-west to south-west. We found no wood at the encampment but made a fire of moss to cook the supper and crept under our blankets for warmth. At sunrise the thermometer was at 31° and the wind fresh from north-west, but the weather became mild in the course of the forenoon and the snow disappeared from the gravel. The afternoon was remarkably fine and the thermometer rose to 50°. One of the hunters killed a musk-ox. The hills in this part are lower and more round-backed than those we passed yesterday, exhibiting but little naked rock; they were covered with lichens.

Having ascertained from the summit of the highest hill near the tents that the river continued to preserve a west course and, fearing that by pursuing it farther we might lose much time and unnecessarily walk over a great deal of ground, I determined on quitting its banks the next day and making as directly as we could for Point Lake. We accordingly followed the river on the 3rd only to the place where the musk-ox had been killed last evening and, after the meat was procured, crossed the river in our two canoes lashed together. We now emerged from the valley of the river and entered a level but very barren country, varied only by small lakes and marshes, the ground being covered with small stones. Many old tracks of reindeer were seen in the clayey soil and some more recent traces of the musk-ox. We encamped on the borders of Wright’s River which flows to the eastward, the direct distance walked today being ten miles and three-quarters. The next morning was very fine and as the day advanced the weather became quite warm. We set out at six A.M. and, having forded the river, walked over a perfectly level country interspersed with small lakes which communicated with each other by streams running in various directions. No berry-bearing plants were found in this part, the surface of the earth being thinly covered in the moister places with a few grasses, and on the drier spots with lichens.

Having walked twelve miles and a half we encamped at seven P.M. and distributed our last piece of pemmican and a little arrowroot for supper which afforded but a scanty meal. This evening was warm but dark clouds overspread the sky. Our men now began to find their burdens very oppressive and were much fatigued by this day’s march but did not complain. One of them was lame from an inflammation in the knee. Heavy rain commenced at midnight and continued without intermission until five in the morning, when it was succeeded by snow on the wind changing to north-west, which soon increased to a violent gale. As we had nothing to eat and were destitute of the means of making a fire, we remained in our beds all the day, but the covering of our blankets was insufficient to prevent us from feeling the severity of the frost and suffering inconvenience from the drifting of the snow into our tents. There was no abatement of the storm next day; our tents were completely frozen and the snow had drifted around them to a depth of three feet, and even in the inside there was a covering of several inches on our blankets. Our suffering from cold in a comfortless canvas tent in such weather with the temperature at 20° and without fire will easily be imagined; it was however less than that which we felt from hunger.

The morning of the 7th cleared up a little but the wind was still strong and the weather extremely cold. From the unusual continuance of the storm we feared the winter had set in with all its rigour and that by longer delay we should only be exposed to an accumulation of difficulties; we therefore prepared for our journey although we were in a very unfit condition for starting, being weak from fasting and our garments stiffened by the frost. We had no means of making a fire to thaw them, the moss, at all times difficult to kindle, being now covered with ice and snow. A considerable time was consumed in packing up the frozen tents and bed clothes, the wind blowing so strong that no one could keep his hands long out of his mittens.

Just as we were about to commence our march I was seized with a fainting fit in consequence of exhaustion and sudden exposure to the wind but, after eating a morsel of portable soup, I recovered so far as to be able to move on. I was unwilling at first to take this morsel of soup, which was diminishing the small and only remaining meal for the party, but several of the men urged me to it with much kindness. The ground was covered a foot deep with snow, the margins of the lakes were encrusted with ice, and the swamps over which we had to pass were entirely frozen but the ice, not being sufficiently strong to bear us, we frequently plunged knee-deep in water. Those who carried the canoes were repeatedly blown down by the violence of the wind and they often fell from making an insecure step on a slippery stone; on one of these occasions the largest canoe was so much broken as to be rendered utterly unserviceable. This we felt was a serious disaster as the remaining canoe having through mistake been made too small, it was doubtful whether it would be sufficient to carry us across a river. Indeed we had found it necessary in crossing Hood’s River to lash the two canoes together. As there was some suspicion that Benoit, who carried the canoe, had broken it intentionally, he having on a former occasion been overheard by some of the men to say that he would do so when he got it in charge, we closely examined him on the point; he roundly denied having used the expressions attributed to him, and insisted that it was broken by his falling accidentally and, as he brought men to attest the latter fact who saw him tumble, we did not press the matter further. I may here remark that our people had murmured a good deal at having to carry two canoes, though they were informed of the necessity of taking both in case it should be deemed advisable to divide the party, which it had been thought probable we should be obliged to do if animals proved scarce, in order to give the whole the better chance of procuring subsistence, and also for the purpose of sending forward some of the best walkers to search for Indians and to get them to meet us with supplies of provision. The power of doing this was now at an end. As the accident could not be remedied we turned it to the best account by making a fire of the bark and timbers of the broken vessel and cooked the remainder of our portable soup and arrowroot. This was a scanty meal after three days’ fasting but it served to allay the pangs of hunger and enabled us to proceed at a quicker pace than before. The depth of the snow caused us to march in Indian file, that is in each other’s steps, the voyagers taking it in turn to lead the party. A distant object was pointed out to this man in the direction we wished to take and Mr. Hood followed immediately behind him to renew the bearings and keep him from deviating more than could be helped from the mark. It may be here observed that we proceeded in this manner throughout our route across the barren grounds.

In the afternoon we got into a more hilly country where the ground was strewed with large stones. The surface of these was covered with lichens of the genus gyrophora which the Canadians term tripe de roche. A considerable quantity was gathered and with half a partridge each (which we shot in the course of the day) furnished a slender supper which we cooked with a few willows dug up from beneath the snow. We passed a comfortless night in our damp clothes but took the precaution of sleeping upon our socks and shoes to prevent them from freezing. This plan was afterwards adopted throughout the journey.

At half-past five in the morning we proceeded and after walking about two miles came to Cracroft’s River, flowing to the westward with a very rapid current over a rocky channel. We had much difficulty in crossing this, the canoe being useless, not only from the bottom of the channel being obstructed by large stones, but also from its requiring gumming, an operation which, owing to the want of wood and the frost, we were unable to perform. However after following the course of the river some distance we effected a passage by means of a range of large rocks that crossed a rapid. As the current was strong and many of the rocks were covered with water to the depth of two or three feet, the men were exposed to much danger in carrying their heavy burdens across, and several of them actually slipped into the stream but were immediately rescued by the others. Junius went farther up the river in search of a better crossing-place and did not rejoin us this day. As several of the party were drenched from head to foot and we were all wet to the middle, our clothes became stiff with the frost and we walked with much pain for the remainder of the day. The march was continued to a late hour from our anxiety to rejoin the hunters who had gone before, but we were obliged to encamp at the end of ten miles and a quarter without seeing them. Our only meal today consisted of a partridge each (which the hunters shot) mixed with tripe de roche. This repast, although scanty for men with appetites such as our daily fatigue created, proved a cheerful one and was received with thankfulness. Most of the men had to sleep in the open air in consequence of the absence of Crédit who carried their tent, but we fortunately found an unusual quantity of roots to make a fire, which prevented their suffering much from the cold though the thermometer was at 17°.

We started at six on the 9th and at the end of two miles regained our hunters who were halting on the borders of a lake amidst a clump of stunted willows. This lake stretched to the westward as far as we could see and its waters were discharged by a rapid stream one hundred and fifty yards wide. Being entirely ignorant where we might be led by pursuing the course of the lake, and dreading the idea of going a mile unnecessarily out of the way, we determined on crossing the river if possible, and the canoe was gummed for the purpose, the willows furnishing us with fire. But we had to await the return of Junius before we could make the traverse. In the meantime we gathered a little tripe de roche, and breakfasted upon it and a few partridges that were killed in the morning. St. Germain and Adam were sent upon some recent tracks of deer. Junius arrived in the afternoon and informed us that he had seen a large herd of musk-oxen on the banks of Cracroft’s River, and had wounded one of them but it escaped. He brought about four pounds of meat, the remains of a deer that had been devoured by the wolves. The poor fellow was much fatigued, having walked throughout the night but, as the weather was particularly favourable for our crossing the river, we could not allow him to rest. After he had taken some refreshment we proceeded to the river. The canoe being put into the water was found extremely ticklish, but it was managed with much dexterity by St. Germain, Adam, and Peltier, who ferried over one passenger at a time, causing him to lie flat in its bottom, by no means a pleasant position owing to its leakiness, but there was no alternative. The transport of the whole party was effected by five o’clock and we walked about two miles farther and encamped, having come five miles and three-quarters on a south-west course. Two young alpine hares were shot by St. Germain which with the small piece of meat brought in by Junius furnished the supper of the whole party. There was no tripe de roche here. The country had now become decidedly hilly and was covered with snow. The lake preserved its western direction as far as I could see from the summit of the highest mountain near the encampment. We subsequently learned from the Copper Indians that the part at which we had crossed the river was the Congecatha-wha-chaga of Hearne, of which I had little idea at the time, not only from the difference of latitude, but also from its being so much farther east of the mouth of the Copper-Mine River than his track is laid down, he only making one degree and three-quarters’ difference of longitude and we upwards of four. Had I been aware of the fact several days’ harassing march and a disastrous accident would have been prevented by keeping on the western side of the lake instead of crossing the river. We were informed also that this river is the Anatessy or River of Strangers and is supposed to fall into Bathurst’s Inlet, but although the Indians have visited its mouth their description was not sufficient to identify it with any of the rivers whose mouths we had seen. It probably discharges itself in that part of the coast which was hid from our view by Goulbourn’s or Elliott’s Islands.

September 10.