The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1854-10-27

FATE or SIN IoHn FnAxxIrr,s Exrrnrrror
The hostresl Herald Of Saturday lass cout.ins =
extended account Of the discoveries AZ rr n.
abridgemenis Of which have been furnished bv
telegraph The letter Of DIR. Rae to Sir Geor.. !.
given IN full We extract The foliowins:
On the 31st of March my spring journev co,,,.
menceo, out N ccnse sequence Of gales OF wind deen
and 'G,, ,, snow and f0gsy .ssther ads 81,
ve,y ,h ,,.e we did not enter PeIy Boy
maux, one Of whom, on being asked # be e,er
saw white people, replied In the negative but s.ii
that large party (at least forty persone had
ished for want of food some ten or twelve dsys,
jour- ey 70 the westward The substance If IS.
information obtained ct various tines ana from
rious sources, was AZ follows:
In tne spring four winters past (spring Of ls50)
party OF white men, amounting to about forty.
%sle seen travelling southward over the ice, and
dragging boats with them, by some Esquinsur
wno were killing seals on the north shore of Kinp
Wniiams Land, which Is large island named
Fl ik-tak by the Eequimaux None of the partv
could speak the ative language inteIigrbly but By
signs the natives were made to understand thar
their ships or ship had been crushed by ice. and
that the whites were now going to where thev ex
pected to fnd deer TO shoot From the appearances
OF the men, all OF whom, except one officer (chief)
looked thin. they were then supposed to be aeftina
short of provisions, and they purchased ANAL
seal from tine natives.
At a later date, the same season, but preyious to
lne disruption OF the ice, the bodies of about thirty
white persons were discovered on the Continent
and five on the island near it, about long dav's
Journey, (say 35 to 40 miles, to the ~ W. of large
stream, which can be no other than Backs Great
Fisn River, (named BY the Esquimaux Out-kooh hi
cak) as its description and that of the low shore
in the neighborhood of Point Osle and Montreal
Island agree exactly with that of Sir George Back
Some OF the bodies had been buried, fprobablv
tnose OF the first victims of fsmne,) some were in
a tent or tents, others under boat that had been
turned over to form shelter, and several Iav sca,
tered about in different directions OF those found
on the Island, one was supposed to have been an
ofiicer as he had telescope strapped over his
shoulder, and his double bairalled gun lay under
From the mutiiated state of many of the corpsee.
and the contents of the kettles is evident that our
miserable countrymen had been driven to the last
resource-cannibaiism-a means of prolonging
life.
There appears to have been an abundant stock Of
ammunition as the powder was emptied in heap
on the ground by the natives out of the kegs or ca.
sea containing it and quantity of ball or shot was
found below high water mark, having been LETT On
the ice close to the beach, There must have been
number of watches, telescopee compasses guns
(several double-barreled,) &c, all of which appear
to have been broken up, as saw pieces of these
different articles with the Esquimaux and together
with some silver spoons and forks, purchased as
many as could obtain. A list cf the most irnpor.
tant OF these enclose, with rough pen and ink
sketch OF the events and initials on the forks and
spoons The articles themselves shall be handed
over to the Secretary of the Hon. H. B. g. Co. on
my arrival in London.
None OF the Esquimaux with whom conversed
had seen the "whites," nor had they ever been at
the place where the dead were found but had their
information from those who had been there, and
those who had seen the party when alive.
The list of articles referred to above is as fol
lows:
CRESTs.
No Head Of (apparenty) Walrus or Sea.
horse, with dragoons wings.
No. "a Griffin, with wings and forked tongue
and tail
No. IA Griffin's head, with wings
No. "A Dove, with an olive branch in its BILL
surrounded by scroll, with the motto
Spero meliorG
No. 5.-A Fishs Head, with (apparently) coral
branches on either side.
LIST OF ARTICLES purchased from the Esquimaux
said to have been found to the Wesf or 70 ,ar ta