CHAPTER V. 



FIRST LAND EXPEDITION. INCIDENTS. BACKUS JOURNEY. 



OF THE WEATHER. AURORA BOREALIS. ANECDOTES. 



Bl'RVEY OF THE COAST. RETURN TRIP. SUFFERINGS. MURDER 01 



MR. HOOD. DEATHS. UNEXPECTED RELIEF. ARRIVAL AT YORK 



FACTORY. 



IN September of the same year that Parry sailed, an 

 overland expedition started from York Factory, Hud- 

 son's Bay, under charge of Sir John Franklin, accompa- 

 nied by Dr. (now Sir John) Richardson, two midshipmen, 

 Messrs. Back and Hood, and Ilepburn, a seaman, 

 with the object of exploring the north coast of America 

 to its eastern extremity from the mouth of the Copper- 

 mine. There was a change that Parry might make for 

 the coast in his ships ; and, if so, the two parties would 

 have cooperated with mutual advantage. 



On the 19th of January, 1820, Franklin set out in 

 company with Mr. Back, and a seaman named Hepburn, 

 with provisions for fifteen days stowed in two sledges, 

 on their journey to Fort Chipewyan. Dr. Richardson, 

 Mr Hood, and Mr. Connolly, accompanied them a short 

 distance. After touching at different posts of the com- 

 pany, they reached their destination safely on the 26th 

 of March, after a winter's journey of eight hundred and 

 fifty-seven miles. The greatest difficulty experienced 

 by the travellers was the labor of walking in snow- 

 shoes, a weight of between two and three pounds being 

 constantly attached to galled feet and swelled ankles. 



Of the state of the temperature during this journey 



