Star.
London, England, 1826-11-10 00:00:00

POUNDS OF OATS,

At the Ordnance Depot, in Taoley-street, may receive Particulars
of the Contr.icts at this Office, between the hours of Ten anti
Four; and deliver their Tenders sealed up, and directed to the
Agent fur Commissariat Supplies, marking thereon " Tender for
Oats;' on nr before TUESDAY, the 21st Instant, but none will
be received after Twelve o'Clock on that day ; nor will any Pro-
posal he noticed unless made On, or annexed to, a Printed Par-
ticular, and the Prices inserted in Words 'at length ; nor unless
a Letter be subjoined to such Proposal, signed by Two Persons of
known Property engaging to become bound with the Party
tendering, in 'the Sum. expressed In the Particulars, for the due
Per f 4

•

THE
'DISTRESSED LETTER-PRESS PRINTERS

ARCTIC LAND EXPEDITION.

soot ins Daman counts.

rWe had the happiness, last week, of presenting our Readers
with a letter from the very centre of Africa, pointing at, rather
than dwelling on, matters of high import to the friends of science;
and, this week, we have a still higher treat in store for them, in the
shape of Extracts from an Original Journal, kept by a learned and
valued friend attached to the Arctic Land Expedition, and for-
warded to us, we may say, from the near neighbourhood of the
North Pole. We say Extracts—for the Journal in question, as
originally written, was too long for our narrow limits.]
FORT FRANKLIN, GREAT BEAR LAKE, Fn. 6.
At New York we were received with much hospita-
lity, and I may say kindness, by the upper class of citi-
' zens. We spent a week very agreeably with them, after
which, we left New York in a steam-boat, and pro-
ceeded up the river Hudson to Albany, landing by the
way at West Point, to visit the Military Academy
established there on a large scale. West Point is as-
sociated with unpleasant recollections to an English.
man, as being the position of the American army when
the unfortunate but gallant Major Andre was taken in
carrying on his negocrations with General Arnold. The
Hudson is .a magnificent river, and much of its scenery
possesses a grand, nay almost an alpine character.—
Albany, the seat of the Government of the State of
New York, is a comparatively ancient, quiet, and well
built town, not disturbed by the commerce which bus-
tles through the streets of New York. We were enter-
tained by the Governor of the State, General de Witt
Clinton, a polished Gentleman, of great scientific at-
tainments, and by Van Rauselaer, the proprietor of a
county which bears his name, and in feet a Nobleman
under the appellation of Patron (pronounced patrons)
which is, I snppos', the Republican equivalent for
Doke. We also made here the acquaintance of Mr.
Celden, a liber ri leader of the federal party. We ac-
companied the Governor to Church, and the Clergyman,
a Presbyterian, prayed in express terms for the safety
and success of the Expedition.
At Albany we hired three coaches, with four horses
each, to convey us to Lewistown, a distance of about
420 miles. Our party at this time consisted of five
ofitcersJohr marines, and Mr. Buchanan the 'British
Consul, who came with us from New York, and ac-
companied us during our journey through the United
States. and Upper Canada, facilitating oUr .priigtess
greatly by his 'intimate knowledge of the route,
the modes of travelling, and the manners of the
inhabitants. After we had struck off, however, from
the great western roatito Buffaloe, in order to go to
Lewistown on-the Niagara, we found, as . Might be eh
pected train the's-natter thoroughfare; leis acconsthcida-
lion for so large a party. • We arrived at one of the
smaller inns about 63411-light, after the family had re-
tired to bed, found the door on the latch, and walked
in ; but experienced some difictsity, too it *rata frosty

• night, in getting the family' to quit their warm beds
and providers with supper. Mr. Buchanan, however,
hit upon an expedient which answered admirably. He
sent our highland piper into the long passage leading
to the bed-rooms, and he had not marched twice along
it to the tune of The Gathering of the Mat, before the
landlord, his wife, and five or six female attendants,
hurried forth. They took all this in good part, said it
was delightful Music, cooked some ham for our supper
with their usual expedition, and spread clean sheets on
the beds which they had left.
From Lewistown we Crossed the Niagara to Queens-
town on the Canada side, and went about seven miles
up the river to visit the justly celebrated Falls. Many
have endeavoured to describe these Falls, and I think
with very little success. I shall not make a new at-
tempt, but merely remark, th it, notwithstanding all I
had read on the subject, and the various drawings I had
seen, the grandeur of the scene far exceeded my pre-
vious conceptions of it. All the other cataracts which
I have seen, dwindle, oil comparison with this. Olio in-
significance. It is a stupendous monument of the power
of the CRRATOR of the Ihsivertei,aaho wields at etiltau
elEment that mocks the utmost strength of feeble riian.
Place Xerxes and his Satraps and emirs, or the might-
iest potentate at the head of the most magnificent army
that eider trod the earth, within the current of that
powerful stream; and a single minute would suffice to
sweep them and their cumbrous train to utter destruc-
tion. This neighbourhood is a place of summer resort
for the inhabitants of the State of New York, and a
hotel for their accommodation has been built so as to
overlook the Falls. This, with some flights of wooden
stairs to enable the visitors to ascend and descend the
banks of the river, are no ornament to the scene ; neither
do they injure it, and perhaps the Cataract of Niagara
is the only one in the world that would not be injured
by such adjuncts. But it is framed on so mighty a plan,
that the eye, on contemplating its tremendous rush of
waters, lets slip from observation every work of art.
From Niagara we proceeded to Fort George, situated
on Lake Ontario, at the influx of the river, and, crossing
the Lake, we landed at York, the capital of Upper
Canada. After a stay of twenty-fours at this place, we
proceeded in carts, by miserable roads, and through a
thinly settled country, to Lake Senicoe, which we cross-
ed, and descending the Nattawasaga River to Lake
Huron, we arrived in a few days at Penetanguishene, a
naval depot, situated on one of the bays of that Lake.
At Penetanguishene we were joined by twenty-four
Canadian voyageurs from Montreal, and on the 28d of
April the whole party embarked in two large canoes,
which, together with some stores, had been forwarded
from Lower Canada the preceding season. In these
canoes we coasted Lakes Huron and Superior, and ar-
rived at Fort William on the 10th of May, .having suf-
fered a few days' detention, partly from ice, but princi-
pally from high winds.
Fort William, previous to their union with the Hud-
son's Bay Company, was the principal depot of the
North West Fur Traders. Here we exchanged our
large canoes for four smaller ones, adapted to river` na-
vigation, and, separating into two parties, Capt. Frank-
lin and I pushed on a head in a partially laden canoe,
while Messrs. Back, Kendall, and Drummond, follow-
ed with the stores in the three remaining canoes. We
arrived on the 15th of June at Cumberland-house,which,'
you may remember, was our wintering quarters the
first year on our former journey through the country;
and it was also the residence, during the last winter,
of our seamen, who, with three boats and some stores
under their charge, left England in June 1824, in the
Hudson's Bay Ship. They resumed their voyage this
season on the 2d of June, and we overtook them on the
29th of the same month, in sufficient time to assist them
in reaching and crossing the height of land which se-
parates the waters flowing towards Hudson's Bay, from
those which fall into the Arctic sea. Owing to the un-
usual dryness of the season, we experienced much diffi-
culty in launching the boats through the small streams
leading to and from this portage, which is named the
Methy Carrying-place, and particularly through the
small Methy river, which is nearly SO miles long, and
which, this season, nowhere offered water sufficient to
float the boats, except in small pools, between which
long and almost dry fords intervened. We had, in
consequence, to carry the cargoes nearly the whole way,
either partially or entirely, through swamps from which
the mosquitoes assailed us in myriads at every step.—
The Carrying place itself is twelve miles long, over a
high ridge of sand hills, and here the boats were partly
carried on men's shoulders, and partly launched the
whole distance. After this tedious and laborious ope-
ration, during which a considerable nnmber of the men
were disabled by swellings of the legs, we descended the
Athabasca river, and reached Fort Chepewyan, on the
Lake of the Hills, on the 15th of July. By referring
to Mackenzie's voyages, you will perceive that it was
from this post that that enterprising traveller set outran
the Sd of June, 1789, on that memorable voyage to the
Arctic sea, in which he discovered and navigated the
river that bears his name, and opened up to the Fur
trade a large track of productive country.
It was necessary for Captain Franklin to remain at
Fort Chepewyan until the arrival of Mr. Back, that he
might discharge such of the Canadian voyagers as were
to return to Canada this season, and also to make other
arrangements; but that the boats (which were now four
in number, an additional one having been borrowed
from the Company, and heavily laden with upwards of
two tons of pemmican, besides other stones), might be
no cause of delay after the arrival of the canoes, I went
on with them on the 21st.

The canoes, under Messrs. Back and Kendall, (Drum-,
'mond having been left at Cumberland-house to botanize
on the Saskatchewan) arrived at Chepewyan on the 23d,
and on the 25th, Captain Franklin having sent back to
Canada a canoe with the voyagers whose services were
no longer needed, set out after me with the three re-
' maining canoes. The boats reached Slave Lake on the
213th July, only two days later than we arrived at the
same place in canoes on the second year of our former
journey ; a difference of speed attributable solely to our
acquaintance with the route and mode of travelling, and
the previous arrangements so carefully made by Cap-
tain Franklin. After passing two days under the hos-
pitable roufof Mr. M'Vicar, who was so kind to us
alter our foimer suffering's, I set out again, and, coast-

ing the southern shore of Great Slave Lake, entered
the Mackenzie. The current of this stately river swept
us rapidly along, and on the 3d of August we arrived
at Fort Simpson, situated at the influx of the River of
the Mountains, and at seven in the morning of the 6th
we landed at Fort Norman, about two hundred miles
further down that river. These two posts are distant
from each other thirteen days of winter travelling.— •
At Fort Norman I left a portion of the stores, and a
boat and select crew for Captain Franklin ; and going on
with the remainder, we ascended the current of the
Bear Lake River, which joins the Mackenzie about
thirty miles below Fort Norman. Bear Lake River has
a rapid current; the voyage down it being performed in
eight or nine hours, while its ascent occupies three or
four days. It is seventy-six miles long. We arrived
at Fort Franklin, then in progress of erection, on the
16th of August. Mr. Deese, a chief trader of the Hud-
son Bay Company, who had come down with a party
of men in the month of June to make preparations for
-us, did not expect to see us before the 25th of September.
Captain Franklin and hiiparty reached Fort Norman
the day after I left it, anu sending Mr. 13 ick up with
the canoes and stores, he and Mr. Kendall proceeded
down the river in the boat, with crew of seven men,
including the Esquimau: interpreter. 0 r the Sd day
they passed Fort Good Hope,in lat. 67.28. the last of the
Company's posts, and in three days more reached the
sea. The river flowed into it through many channels,
separated by low deltas, which ire mostly covered by •
spring floods. Whale Island of Mackenzie, the bruit
of his voyage, is one of the outermost of these deltas,
but it is surrounded by the fresh water of the river, and
it was not until the boat had approached Garry's
Island, thirty miles to seaward, that the clear salt water
was perceived, by a well defined line, to be separated
from the muddy water of the river. Captain Franklin
landed on Garry's Island exactly six months from the
date of his sailing from England; and it will exci•e the
sympathy of his friends to learn, that he then displayed
for the first time a silk flag, which was sewed by his
lamented wife in her last illness, and delivered with a
presentiment, alas! too true, that they were never again
to meet in this world.

Garry's Island lies in lat. 69. 29. and in longitude
135:41. W. From its summit they saw many white
and black whales, seals, &c. After remaining a day
here, for the put pose of making astronomical observe-
dons, and enjoying the contemplation of a sea clear of
ice, they set out on their return, and arrived at this post
on the 6th of September. We had, during their absence,
bestowed upon it the name which it now bears. They
saw several Esquimaux encampments recently des. rted,
but were not so fortunate as to find any of the people of
that nation. Presents, however, of iron work were left
at their huts, and we have had the satisfaction of learn-

ing, in thesiourse of this winter, through the medium
olthe Sharp Eyes—a tribe of Indians who frequent
at Good Hope—that these presents were found by the
,people for whom they were intended, and have prepai-
d them strongly in our favour. The Expedition tra.,
yelled, from the date of its leaving N:w York, the 26th
March, until its reunion at Fort Iran kiln on the 6th of
September—and including a survey which I made of
the north side of Bear Lake, in Captain Franklin's .ab-
sence—five thousand one hundred and sixty miles, of
which five hundred and nine-six were through the
United States and settled parts of Upper Canada. It.
will resume its labours as soon as the rivers are clear of
ice, which will not be before the end of June. At pre-
sent the whole party are in good health and high spirits,
and are sanguine in their expectations of success.
No letters from this post later than the date of this can reach
England sooner than October, 1827.

FRENCH PAPERS.

The Moniteur of Monday contains a Royal Ordon-
nance, convoking the Chambers for the 12th December.
Another Royal Ordonnance elevates the venerable Arch-
bishop of Bourdeaux, lately Bishop of Boston, in Ame-
rica, to the dignity of the Peerage. The same Paper,
in a kind of leading article, explains some parts, and
contradicts others, of the account which we extracted
yesterday from another Journal, respecting the recent
disturbances at the Royal College of Versailles. It de-
nies that the affray was so serious as it had been retire-
seined, reducing the battalion of Swiss (whose assist-
ance was said to have been called in) to four fusileers,
and making all the damage done amount only to a few
broken panes of glass, and some smashed crockery.—
The young rioters had been dismissed to their homes for
the holidays, but were all to return with the exception
of about a dozen of the ringleaders.
The Etoile of Tuesday states, in a letter from Con-
stantinople of the 15th ult. that the Greek Patriarch has
been deposed: A great agitation prevails among the
Greeks in the Turkish capital.
The Etoile of Wednesday informs us, that the Prin-
cess Regent of Portugal has proclaimed a general am-
nesty for all the factious officers and soldiers who shall
return to their country before the termination of the
year. This intelligence, it adds. together with that of
the marriage of the,lnfant Don Miguel, and of the oath
taken by that Prince to the-Constitution, is a sufficient
answer to the rumours of the march of additional troops
into Spain. The Journal then subjoins the following
paragraph, as its authority for stating that this young
adherent of legitimacy has at last become constitutional.
" We received by an extraordinary conveyance the Vienna Pa-
pers of the 31st ult. from which we make the following extract:
" s Yestettlay, at six o'clock in the evening, before all the Court,
in the presence of their Majesties, in the great hall of audience, the
Infant Don Miguel was solemnly betrothed to her Majesty Queen
Marla da Gloria 11. of Portugal, granddaughter of the Emperor of
Austria, whose house is united by new and more close ties to that
of Braganza. The august Prince, who has here acquired by his
modest conduct general respect, appears in consequence to have
yielded to the commands of his august brother and Sovereign.'"
The report of the young Prince haying taken the
oath to the Constitution, appears thus wrest only on in.
ference ; but from the nature of the premises,. the
inference seems to be irresistible. It is not at all likely
that the Emperor would allow his daughter to, be be-
trothed, in the face of Europe, to a Prince Who gopti-
oiled hostile to the institutions which We had 'sista to
his country, and engaged to Maintain at the luzatd of
displeasing his legitimate allies. We May. therefore,
believe that Don Miguel has at least engaged to support
the Cones; and that the party in Portugal who relied