The Sun.
London, England, 1849-11-19 00:00:00

MONDAY EVENING,

much cut by the young ice which now bound the floes
together. The ground was covered with snow, re)
Open water was visible front the highest cape, and
tie winter appeared to have set in with rigour. I
found myself, therefore, reluctantly compelled to
abandon the boats, and to prosecute the journey to
oar winter residence on Great Bear Lake, by land.
The pemican and ammunition were carefully con-
cealed for future use, the boats were hauled up on the
beach, and the party directed to prepare for the march.
The baggage, consisting of thirteen days' provisions,
cooking utensils, hatchets, astronomical instruments,
a few books, the ammunition, two nets with several
setting lines, Halkett's portable boat, a package of
dried plants, my bedding, and a few articles of
clothing, were distributed by lot. Each man carried,
in addition to his assigned load, his own blanket,
mocaesies, and such articles of clothing as he chose.
All were furnished with snow shoes. Mr. Ree
carried the greatest part of his own bedding and spare
clothing.
We set out on the 31_ of September, and on the
following day came to an encampment of Esquimaux.
They cheerfully ferried us across the mouth of a
wide river, which I named the Rae. We afterwards
crossed the Richardson in Lieut. Halkett's boat, and
following the line of the Coppermine, and of its
tributary, the Kendall, we gained a branch of Deases
River ; and on the thirteenth day reached our destined
quarters at Fort Confidence. Our march through
half-frozen swamps, or over hills covered with snow,
was necessarily toilsome; but by keeping as much
as possible in the river valleys we had to pass only
one night without firing, for the purposes
of cookery. In a thick fog, during which
we were able to proceed in the proper direction by
compass, James Hope and his Indian companion, who
had been dispatched by Mr. Bell to meet us, lost
their way, and so missed us ; bat, on coming to our
trail on the Kendall, they perceived that we had
passed, and returned to Fort Confidence two days
after our arrival there.

In the voyage between the Mackenzie and Copper-
mine, I carefully executed their Lordship' instruc-
tions with respect to the examination of the coast line,
and became fully convinced that no ships had passed
Within view of the mainland. It is, indeed, nearly
impossible that they could have done so unobserved
by some of the numerous parties of Esquimaux on
the look-out for whales. We were, moreover, in-
formed by the Esquimaux of Back's Inlet, that the
ice had been pressing on their shore nearly the whole
summer, and its closely packed condition when we
left it, on the 4th of September, made it highly
improbable that it would open for ship navigation
later in the season.
I regretted extremely that the state of the ice
prevented me from crossing to Wollaston land, and
thus completing in one season the whole scheme
of their Lordships' instructions. The opening
between Wollaston and Victoria lands has always
appeared to me to possess great interest, for through
it the flood tide evidently sets into Coronation Gulf,
diverging to the westward by the Dolphin and Union
Strait, and to the eastward round Cape Alexander.
By the fifth clause of Sir John Franklin's instruc-
tions, he is directed to steer south-westward from
Cape Walker, which would lead him nearly in the
direction of the strait in question. If Sir John found
Barrow's Strait as open as when Sir Edward Parry
peesed it on four previous occasions, I am convinced
that (complying as exactly as he could with his in-
structions, and withoutlooking into Wellington Sound,
or other openings either to the south or north of
Barrow's Strait), he pushed directly west to Cape
Walker, and from thence south-westwards. If so, the
ships were probably shut up in some of the passages
between Victoria, Banks, and Wollaston's lands.
This opinion, which I advocated in my former com-
munications, is rather strengthened by the laborious
journeys of• Sir James Ross having disclosed no traces
of the missing ships.
Being apprehensive that the boats I left on the
coast would be broken up by the Esquimaux, and
being, moreover, of opinion that the examination of
the opening in question might be safely and effi-
ciently performed in the only remaining boat 1 had fit
for transport from Bear Lake to the Coppermine, I
determined to entrust this important service to Mr.
Rae, who volunteered, and whose ability and zeal in
the cause I cannot too highly commend. He selected
an excellent crew, all of them experienced voyageurs,
and capable of finding their way back to Bear Lake
without guides, should any unforeseen accident
deprive them of their leader. In the month of
Meech (1849) a sufficient supply of pemican and
other necessary stores, with the equipments
of the boat, were transported over the snow
on dog sledges, to a navigable part of the
Kendall river, and left there under the charge of
two men. As soon as the Dease broke up in June,
Mr. Rae would follow with the boat, the rest of the
crew and a party of Indian hunters, and would des-
cend the Coppermine river about the middle of July,
at which time the sea generally begins to break up.
lie would then, as soon as possible, cross from Cape
Krusenstern to Wollaston land, and endeavour to
penetrate to the northward, erecting signal columns
and making deposits on conspicuous headlands, and
especially on the north shore of Bank's land should he
be fortunate enough to attain that coast. He was further
instructed not to hazard the safety of his party by
remaining too long on the north side of Dolphin and
Union Strait, and to be guided in his movements by
the season, the state of the ice, and such intelligence
as he might obtain from the Esquimaux. He was,
moreover, directed to report his proceedings to their
Lordships immediately on his return, and should his
dispatches experience no delay on the route, they
may be expected in England in April or May next.
ile was also requested to engage one or more families
of Indian hunters to pass the summer of 1850 on the
banks of the Coppermine River, to be ready to assist
any party that may direct their course that way.
With respect to the recommendation of additional
measures in furtherance of the humane views of their
Lordships, it is necessary to take into account the
time for which the discovery, ships were provisioned.
Deer migrate over the ice in the spring from the
main shore to Victoria and Wollaston lands, in large
herds, and return in the autumn. These lands are
also the breeding places of vast flocks of snow geese;
so that with ordinary skill in hunting, a large supply
of food might be procured on their shores in the
months of June, July, and August. Seals are also
numerous in those seas and are easily shot,
their curiosity rendering them a ready prey
to a boat party. In these ways and by
fishing, the stock of provisions might be greatly aug-
mented. And we have the recent example of Mr.
Rae, who passed a severe winter on the very barren
shores of Repulse Bay, with no other fuel than the
withered tufts of a herbaceous andromeda, and main-
tained a numerous party on the spoils of the chase
alone for a whole year. Such instances forbid us to
lose hope. Should Sir John Franklin's provisions
became so far reduced as to be inadequate to a
winter's consumption, it is not likely that he would
remain longer by his ships, but rather that in one body,
or in several, the officers and crews, with boats cut down
so as to be light enough to drag over the ice, or built ex-
pressly for that purpose, would endeavour to make their
way eastward to Lancaster. Sound, or southwards
to the main land, according to the longitude in which
the ships were arrested. I would there beg leave to
suggest that the Hudson's Bay Company be authorised
and requested to promise liberal rewards to Indians
and Esquimaux who may relieve white men entering
their lands. Some parties of Esquimaux frequenting
the coast to the westward of the Mackenzie are in
the habit of passing the winter in the vicinity of the
Hudson's Bay Company's post on the Rat River
(a tributary of the Peel), and n 4 ht be interested in the
cause by judicious promises. The Russian Fur Company
have a post on the Yucon or Colville, which falls into
the Arctic Sea about midway between the Mackenzie
and Behring's Straits, and through their officers
similar offers might be made to the western Esqui-
maux. We know from the narrative of Sir John
Franklin's discovery of that coast, and also from the
subsequent voyage of Messrs. Dease and Simpson,
that the Esquimaux who frequent the estuary of
the Mackenzie meet those from Point Barrow, at an
intermediate point, for the purposes of barter ; and
in this way intelligence of any interesting occurrence
is conveyed along the coast. The Russian post on
the Colville receives its supplies from a post in Norton
Sound, where it would be easy for any vessel bound
to Behring's Straits to land a communication. Mr.
Rae, having been appointed to the charge of the
Mackenzie River fur district, will give a proper
direction to the efforts of Indian hunters in that
quarter.
As it is thought by some, whose opinion I highly
value, that the discovery ships may have penetrated
to the westward in so high a latitude as not to come

within sight of the main—land, I may further suggest
the desirableness of the examination of the western
coasts of Bank's and Parry's Islands, but as this
would require a ship expedition by way of Behring's
Straits, I must leave the discussion of the practica-
bility of sucb a scheme to the able executive officers
who have navigated the northern seas,
Having thus, Sir, in a more diffuse manner than
is usual in an official letter, but in accordance with
my sense of the deep interest felt on the subject, not
only by my Lords Commissioners, but by the nation
at large, and I may add by the whole civilized world,
recapitulated the proceedings of the expedition, and
detailed my opinions, I have only to add, that after
the return of Mr. Rae and myself from the coast in
September, 1848, we devoted our leisure during the
winter to observations on the magnetic intensity and
force, with the uniplar magnetometer, and Dr. Lloyd's
inclinometer, and kept hourly registers for fourteen
hours each day of the dechnometer, barometer, ther-
mometer, and wind vane.
In the beginning of May, 1849, Mr. Bell and 1,
taking with us all the Europeans of the party then
remaining at the fort, and such of the Canadians as
were not to be employed with Mr. Rae on his summer
expedition, crossed Great Bear Lake on the ice, and