Chapter XII (5)

I have little now to add to the melancholy detail into which I felt it proper to enter; but I cannot omit to state, that the unremitting care and attentions of our kind friends, Mr. McVicar and Mr. McAuley, united with our improved diet, to promote to the restoration of our health; so that, by the end of February, the swellings of our limbs, which had returned upon us, entirely subsided, and we were able to walk to any part of the island. Our appetites gradually moderated, and we nearly regained our ordinary state of body before the spring. Hepburn alone suffered from a severe attack of rheumatism, which confined him to his bed for some weeks. The usual symptoms of spring having appeared, on the 25th of May we prepared to embark for Fort Chipewyan. Fortunately, on the following morning, a canoe arrived from that place with the whole of the stores which we required for the payment of Akaitcho and the hunters. It was extremely gratifying to us to be thus enabled, previous to our departure, to make arrangements respecting the requital of our late Indian companions; and the more so, as we had recently discovered that Akaitcho, and the whole of his tribe, in consequence of the death of the leader's mother, and the wife of our old guide Keskarrah, had broken and destroyed every useful article belonging to them, and were in the greatest distress. It was an additional pleasure to find our stock of ammunition more than sufficient to pay them what was due, and that we could make a considerable present of this most essential article to every individual that had been attached to the Expedition.

We quitted Moose-deer Island at five P.M., on the 26th, accompanied by Mr. McVicar, and Mr. McAuley, and nearly all the voyagers at the establishment, having resided there about five months, not a day of which had passed without our having cause of gratitude, for the kind and unvaried attentions of Mr. McVicar and Mr. McAuley. These gentlemen accompanied us as far as Fort Chipewyan, where we arrived on the 2d of June; here we met Mr. Wentzel, and the four men, who had been sent with him from the mouth of the Copper-Mine River; and I think it due to that gentleman, to give his own explanation of the unfortunate circumstances which prevented him from fulfilling my instructions, respecting the provisions to have been left for us at Fort Enterprise[16].

[16] "After you sent me back from the mouth of the Copper-Mine River,
and I had overtaken the Leader, Guides, and Hunters, on the
fifth day, leaving the sea-coast, as well as our journey up the
River, they always expressed the same desire of fulfilling their
promises, although somewhat dissatisfied at being exposed to
privation while on our return, from a scarcity of animals; for,
as I have already stated in my first communication from
Moose-Deer Island, we had been eleven days with no other food but
_tripe de roche_. In the course of this time an Indian, with his
wife and child, who were travelling in company with us, were left
in the rear, and are since supposed to have perished through
want, as no intelligence had been received of them at Fort
Providence in December last. On the seventh day after I had
joined the Leader, &c. &c., and journeying on together, all the
Indians, excepting Petit Pied and Bald-Head, left me to seek
their families, and crossed Point Lake at the Crow's Nest, where
Humpy had promised to meet his brother Ekehcho[16a] with the
families, but did not fulfil, nor did any of my party of Indians
know where to find them; for we had frequently made fires to
apprize them of our approach, yet none appeared in return as
answers. This disappointment, as might be expected, served to
increase the ill-humour of the Leader and party, the brooding of
which (agreeably to Indian custom) was liberally discharged on
me, in bitter reproach for having led them from their families,
and exposed them to dangers and hardships, which but for my
influence, they said, they might have spared themselves.
Nevertheless, they still continued to profess the sincerest
desire of meeting your wishes in making _caches_ of provisions,
and remaining until a late season on the road that leads from
Fort Enterprise to Fort Providence, through which the
Expedition-men had travelled so often the year before--remarking,
however, at the same time, that they had not the least hopes of
ever seeing one person return from the Expedition. These alarming
fears I never could persuade them to dismiss from their minds;
they always sneered at what they called 'my credulity.'--'If,'
said the Gros Pied[16b], 'the Great Chief (meaning Captain
Franklin), or any of his party, should pass at my tents, he or
they shall be welcome to all my provisions, or any thing else
that I may have.' And I am sincerely happy to understand, by
your communication, that in this he had kept his word--in sending
you with such promptitude and liberality the assistance your
truly dreadful situation required. But the party of Indians, on
whom I had placed the utmost confidence and dependance, was Humpy
and the White Capot Guide, with their sons, and several of the
discharged hunters from the Expedition. This party was
well-disposed, and readily promised to collect provisions for the
possible return of the Expedition, provided they could get a
supply of ammunition from Fort Providence; for when I came up
with them they were actually starving, and converting old axes
into ball, having no other substitute--this was unlucky. Yet they
were well inclined, and I expected to find means at Fort
Providence to send them a supply, in which I was, however,
disappointed, for I found that establishment quite destitute of
necessaries; and then, shortly after I had left them, they had
the misfortune of losing three of their hunters, who were drowned
in Marten Lake: this accident was, of all others, the most fatal
that could have happened--a truth which no one, who has the least
knowledge of the Indian character, will deny; and as they were
nearly connected by relationship to the Leader, Humpy, and White
Capot Guide, the three leading men of this part of the Copper
Indian Tribe, it had the effect of unhinging (if I may use the
expression) the minds of all these families, and finally
destroying all the fond hopes I had so sanguinely conceived of
their assisting the Expedition, should it come back by the
Anna-dessé River, of which they were not certain.

[16a] Akaitcho the Leader.

[16b] Also Akaitcho.

"As to my not leaving a letter at Fort Enterprise, it was
because, by some mischance, you had forgot to give me paper when
we parted[16c].

[16c] I certainly offered Mr. Wentzel some paper when he
quitted us, but he declined it, having then a note-book;
and Mr. Back gave him a pencil.

"I, however, wrote this news on a plank, in pencil, and placed it
in the top of your former bedstead, where I left it. Since it has
not been found there, some Indians must have gone to the house
after my departure, and destroyed it. These details, Sir, I have
been induced to enter into (rather unexpectedly) in justification
of myself, and hope it will be satisfactory."

In a subsequent conversation he stated to me, that the two Indians, who were actually with him at Fort Enterprise, whilst he remained there altering his canoe, were prevented from hunting; one by an accidental lameness, the other by the fear of meeting alone some of the Dog-Rib Indians.

We were here furnished with a canoe by Mr. Smith, and a bowman, to act as our guide; and having left Fort Chipewyan on the 5th, we arrived, on the 4th of July, at Norway House. Finding at this place, that canoes were about to go down to Montreal, I gave all our Canadian voyagers their discharges, and sent them by those vessels, furnishing them with orders on the Agent of the Hudson's Bay Company, for the amount of their wages. We carried Augustus down to York Factory, where we arrived on the 14th of July, and were received with every mark of attention and kindness by Mr. Simpson, the Governor, Mr. McTavish, and, indeed, by all the officers of the United Companies. And thus terminated our long, fatiguing, and disastrous travels in North America, having journeyed by water and by land (including our navigation of the Polar Sea,) five thousand five hundred and fifty miles.

THE END.

* * * * *

LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES, Northumberland-court.

* * * * *

Transcriber's corrections and comments:

1. Original had "throngh"; corrected to "through".

2. Assume -45° 5' means -45.5°, but possibly this could also
be -45-5/60°

3. Original had "phenemenon"; corrected to "phenomenon".

4. The context of soap making indicates that "ley" is most likely a
misprint for "lye".

5. Original had "holyday"; corrected to "holiday" (as in 2nd
edition).

6. Original list order was "M., L."; changed to "L., M." for
consistency.

7. Original list order was "S., R."; changed to "R., S." for
consistency.

8. Original had "storehouse"; changed to "store-house" to be
consistent with other occurrences in the text.

9. Original had "An"; corrected to "At".

10. Original had "McAulay"; changed to "McAuley" to be consisten with
other occurrences in the text.

11. Added comma missing after "tobacco" in original.

12. Original had "determine"; corrected to "determined".

13. Original had "considerally"; corrected to "considerably" (as in
2nd edition).

14. Original had comma after "him"; corrected to period.

15. Original had period after "impossible"; corrected to comma.

16. Added "a" missing before "medal" in original.

17. Assume "Akaiyazzeh" is the same as "Akaiyazza" in chapter VIII.

18. Original had "Instructions"; corrected to "instructions".

19. Original had "et"; corrected to "set".

20. Original had "June", which doesn't fit into the sequence;
corrected to "July".

21. Original had "good-nature" at line break; corrected to "good
nature".

22. Original had "looses and"; corrected to "loose sand".

23. Original had "June", which doesn't fit into the sequence;
corrected to "July".

24. Original had "this"; corrected to "his".

25. Original had "tattoed"; corrected to "tattooed".

26. Original had "her and"; corrected to "her".

27. Added period missing after "house" in original.

28. Added comma missing after "being" in original.

29. Original had "easernmost"; corrected to "easternmost".

30. Added period missing after "Academy" in original.

31. Original had "Blackmeat"; changed to "Black-meat" to be consistent
with other occurrences in this text and in the first volume.

32. Alternative spellings for "Thlueetessy" in the first volume are
"Thlouee-tessy" and "Thloueea-tessy".

33. Original had "tha"; corrected to "that".

34. Original had "Slate-Clay"; changed to "Slate-clay" to be
consistent with occurrence in chapter XI.

35. Original had "sandstone"; changed to "sand-stone" to be consistent
with other occurrences in the text.

36. Original had "philanthrophist"; corrected to "philanthropist".

37. Original had "brush-wood"; changed to "brushwood" to be consistent
with other occurrences in the text.

38. Original had "port-folio"; changed to "portfolio" to be consistent
with spelling in footnote 6 in chapter X.

39. Original had "daybreak"; changed to "day-break" to be consistent
with other occurrences in the text.

40. Original had "amongt"; corrected to "amongst".

41. Original had "Rein-deer"; changed to "Rein-Deer" to be consistent
with other occurrences in the text.

42. Original had "signed"; corrected to "singed".

43. Original had "goiug"; corrected to "going".

44. Original had superfluous comma after "companions"; deleted.

45. Added comma missing in original after "hunting".

46. Original had "firewood"; changed to "fire-wood" to be consistent
with other occurrences in the text.

47. Original had "morrrow"; corrected to "morrow".

48. Added word "be" missing in phrase "used to considered" in
original.

49. Original had "Semandrè"; corrected this and all further instances
to "Samandrè" to be consistent with the spelling used earlier in
this text and in the first volume.

50. Original had "w"; corrected to "we".

51. Original had "combatted"; corrected to "combated" (as in 2nd
edition and elsewhere in the text).

52. Original had "exited"; corrected to "excited".

53. Original had "sauvès"; corrected to "sauvés".

54. Superfluous "as" in original; deleted.

55. Added period missing after "meal" in original.

56. Original had superfluous comma after "said"; deleted.

57. Original had "scacrely"; corrected to "scarcely".