The Sun.
London, England, 1827-10-08 00:00:00

the Mackenzie. To this conduct the Esquimau'
were probably stimulated by the Indians. The
western party were also providentially saved from
an attack of a tribe of mountain Indians, by an
opportune notice of their intention. Before the
attack, however, Dr.. Richardson's party met se•;
venal parties of Esquimaux, and had friendly
communications with them ; and it may, hi seine
measure, be ascribed to the small number of the
party, (twelve in alp, anti the apparently dis-
tressed situation o the boats grounding on the
flats of the Mackenzie river.. But after the at.:
tack was defeated, and fortimately without injury
to the natives, presents were made to,
.and bar.;
ters with, some ind;:viduals who belonged td
the same tribe, I_7;Ut who had not been engaged
in the affair, :and who had signified their disap.
proT3l of the conduct of the assailants.
The eastern party, under Dr. Richardson,
who was accompanied by Mr. Kendall, an in-
telligent and distinguished young officer, sue-
teeded in reaching the Coppermine River on the
Bth August, and returned to Fort Franklin,
Greait Bear Lake, on the Ist September. Like
that under the command of Captain Franklin,
they experienced repeated obstructions from ice,
and occasionally from strong breezes; but they
were spared the fiiggy weather, except on parts
of two days, which had caused the western
party so much anxiety and difficulty in their
progress.

The object of Dr. Richardson's party was to
examine the intermediate coast,_ between the
Mackenzie and the Coppermine Rivers. After
separating :from Captain .Franklin, on the 4th
July, they pursued the easternmost channel of
the Mackenzie, , until the 7th of that month,
whin finding that it distributed itself by va-
rious outlets, of which the more easterly were
not navigable for their boats, they chose a
middle one, and that night got into brackish
water, with an open view of the sea, in lat. 69
deg. 19 min. N., long. 133 deg. 24 min. W.
On the 11th, in lat. 69 deg. 42 min. N., lon.
132 deg. 10-min. W., the water, was perfectly
salt, the sea partially covered with drift ice,
and no land visible to seaward.• They expe-
rienced considerable difficulty in crossing the
estuaries ,of several rivers, which were deemed
to be outlets of the shallow channels of the
Mackenzie, that had been left , to the eastward.
—They suffered, besides, some detention from
ice and bad weather ; and it'was not until the
18th of July, that, in lat. 70 deg. 37 min., N.,
long. 126 deg. 52 min. W., they got entirely
clear of the widely spreading mouths of the
Mackenzie,. and of a large lake of brackish
water, which seems to receive one of the
branches of
,that river. The navigation across
these wide estuaries was rendered embarrassing
from extensive sandy flats, which occasionally
compelled them to go nearly out of sight of
laud, and,left them exposed, to. a frequently (law-
•
gerotis surf, in, boats too slight to. venture out
into deep water, amongst , heavy ice, in stormy
weather.

These dangers were gladly exchanged :for a
coasting voyage in the open sea. They rounded •
Cape Parry, in lat. 70 deg., 8 min. N., long.
123 deg. W. ; Cape Krusenstern in lat. 68 deg.
46 min. N., long. 114 deg.- 45 min. W.; and
entered. George the IVth Coronation Gulf, by
the Dolphin and Union Straits (so named after
the boats), which brought then-i within sight of
Cape Barrow, and two degrees of longitude to
-the eastward of the Coppermine River. Their
sea voyage terminated as before mentioned, on
the Bth of August, by their actually entering -
that river.
With the exceptinn of a few hours on two or
three.days, Dr. Richardson's party experienced
contrary winds during their entire progress, and
latterly were delayed, and compelled to round
'every inlet of a deep bay, by thick ice driving in
from seaward, and packing closely on the shore.
The boats' crews, however, without suffering
their exertions to flag, and taking every advan-
-tage of wind and tide, cut a passage with the
hatchet ; and by fon'. days of hard 'labour cleared
this obstacle, the most troublesome that occurred
durins.;g their voyage along along the coasts.
Although they saw much heavy floe ice, some
of it aground even in nine fathom water, yet
, none of it bore marks of being more than one
• season old ; and 'from the heights of land they
could discern lanes of open water outside,—so
that a ship, properly strengthened for such a
voyage, could make way through it with a
favouring breeze. •
Throughout the whole line of coast they had
regular tides, the flood setting from the eastward,
the rise and fall being from a foot to twenty
inches. In the Dolphin and Union Straits, the
current in the height of flood and ebb exceeded
two miles an hour. They found drift timber
every where, and
,a large portion of it, on many
parts of the coast, lay in a line from ten to fif-
teen, and in some places upwards of twenty feet,
above the ordinary spring-tide water-mark, ap-
parently thrown up by a heavy sea. The coast
in such. places was unprotected by islands ; and
the inference is,othat in some seasons at least, if
not every year, there exists a long fetch of open
water.

• After the first rapid, in the Copperrnine river,
Dr._ Richardson's party abandoned the boats,
with the remainder of their cargoes of provision,
iron-work, beads, &c. to the first party of Esqui-
maux which should chance to pass that way ;
and on the 10th August set out by land, with
ten days' provisions, and their personal baggage
reduced to a single blanket and a few spare
mochasins, that they might travel as lightly as
possible ; and, further to reduce the men's loads,
the tents were left
:behind, and Mr. Kendall
carried the astronomical instruments.
They reached the eastern end of Bear Lake,
at the influx of Dease s river, on the 18th, and
remained there until the evening of the 24th,
before the boats arrived to convey them to Fort
Franklin.
The person to whom the boats were entrusted
and who was sent off from from Fort Franklin
on the 6th August, with the necessary supplies,
arid the strictest injunctions from Mr. Deese to
use diligence in getting to the river, did not ar-
rive on the latest day appointed for his appear-
ance (the 20th), from a vague belief that Dr.
Richardson's party would never return, and that
he-should make a needless voyage, and remain
long waiting for them in vain. He therefore
loitered by the way; and after the 20th, Dr.
Richardson was obliged to distribute his party
into hunting and fishing groups, to procure sub-
sistence'. In these operations they _were tole-
rably successful; and they also obtained supplies
from a tribe of Indians, so that they had-abund-
ance. Dr. Richard,
on was not able to collect
his party for
28th •embarkation until the evening of
the '
and.of they reached the- fort, after an
absence from itseventy-one days, the whole
party in perfect health, and more fit, with regard
to bodily strength, to undertake a sim
•
ilar expe-
dition than they were at setting out.