436 ARCTIC VOYAGES. Chap. XI. 



be very buoyant. Their small size, however, and the nature 

 of their construction, necessarily adapted for the navigation 

 of shallow rivers, unfitted them for withstanding the sea then 

 running, and we were in imminent danger of foundering. 

 I therefore resolved on making for the shore, as the only 

 means of saving the party, although I was aware that, in so 

 doing, I incurred the hazard of staving the boats, there being 

 few places on this part of the coast where there was sufficient 

 beach under the broken cliffs. The wind blowing along the 

 land, we could not venture on exposing the boat's side to 

 the sea, by hauling directly in, but, edging away with the 

 wind in that quarter, we most providentially took the ground 

 in a favourable spot. The boats were instantly filled with 

 the surf, but they were unloaded and dragged up without 

 having sustained any material damage. Impressed with a 

 sense of gratitude for the signal deliverance we had ex- 

 perienced on this and other occasions, we assembled in the 

 evening to offer up praise and thanksgiving to the Almighty." 

 —pp. 172, 173. 



On the 2 1 st September the party reached Fort 

 Franklin, where they had the happiness of meeting 

 all their friends in safety : the eastern detachment 

 had arrived on the 1 st September, after a most suc- 

 cessful voyage. Franklin says that the distance 

 travelled, in the three months of their absence from 

 Fort Franklin, amounted to two thousand and forty - 

 eioht statute miles, of which six hundred and ten 

 were through parts not previously discovered. 



" I cannot close this account of our sea-voyage without 

 expressing the deep obligation I feel to Lieutenant Back for 

 his cordial co-operation, and for his zealous and unwearied 

 assiduity during its progress. * * * * My warmest 

 thanks are likewise due to the men of my party, who met 



