THE FIRST FRANKLIN EXPEDITION 255 



outcome of Parry's voyage we have told; that of Franklin's journey 

 may be briefly stated. At that time the whole northern coast of the 

 continent had been explored at two points only, the mouth of the 

 Coppermine and Mackenzie Rivers, and it was desired to gain a 

 wider knowledge of this unknown region. 



With Dr. Richardson as naturalist, Midshipman Hood and 

 Back, and a few men from the Orkneys, Franklin reached his start- 

 ing point, York Factory, on Hudson Bay, August 13, 1819. Thence, 

 by a journey of seven hundred miles, the party reached Fort Cum- 

 berland, wintering the first year on the Saskatchewan. Another 

 year was passed in the wilderness of northern Canada and a second 

 winter weathered through in "the barren grounds." In the follow- 

 ing summer it was proposed to descend the Coppermine to the Arctic 

 Sea, and a journey marked by terrible suffering and hardship began. 



Fort Enterprise, the camp occupied during their second winter, 

 stood on a gentle ascent, at the base of which slept the frozen cur- 

 rent of Waiter River. Here the explorers employed themselves in 

 killing reindeer, and in preparing with their fat and flesh that dried, 

 salted and pounded comestible called pemmican. About one hun- 

 dred and eighty animals were killed. But even this number did 

 not furnish an adequate supply for Franklin's party; and as the 

 expected stores of tobacco, ammunition and blankets did not arrive, 

 Mr. Back, with some Indian and Canadian attendants, returned to 

 Chipewyan for them. Having obtained them, he once more rejoined 

 the party at Fort Enterprise after an absence of five months and 

 a journey of 1,104 miles, "in snowshoes, and with no other covering 

 at night in the woods than a blanket and deerskin." 



It was the middle of June, 1821, before the ice broke up in the 

 Coppermine River. Then Franklin began his journey, passing down 

 the stream in light birch-canoes, and occasionally pausing to hunt 

 the reindeer, musk-oxen and wolves which frequented its banks. 

 Having reached the mouth of the river, the twenty adventurers 

 now composing the expedition launched their barks upon the Polar 



