206 



Inasmuch 



Captain Mid- 

 dleton, 1741 



Arthur Dobb 



Samuel 

 Hearne, 1770 



The Alarm 

 Bird 



mer only five remained alive, all of whom died 

 within a few days after the arrival of the natives.&quot; 



Captain Middleton with two small ships repre 

 sented the next attempt of the Hudson Bay 

 Company, he wintered at Churchill, discovered, 

 the following summer, Wager Inlet and Repulse 

 Bay, and then returned to England. The sup 

 posed unsatisfactory character of his report led 

 to the passage of an Act of Parliament, &quot;Offering 

 a reward of 20,000 for the discovery of a North 

 west Passage.&quot; This result was brought about 

 through the efforts, chiefly, of Arthur Dobbs a 

 zealous advocate of the passage. The latter 

 succeeded also in raising money to equip two 

 ships, whose captains apparently, &quot;agreed to 

 disagree&quot; upon every practical point of import 

 ance and returned, in consequence, as empty as 

 they went. 



Then comes the first of the overland journeys: 

 &quot;Samuel Hearne, a clerk in the service of the 

 Hudson Bay Company, started with a party of 

 Chipewyan Indians, and travelled overland on 

 foot to the mouth of the Coppermine River. On 

 his return journey he passed Great Slave Lake, 

 and reached Fort Churchill in safety after one of 

 the most remarkable journeys ever accomp 

 lished.&quot; 



&quot;The most unpleasant part of Mr. Hearne s 

 story,&quot; says Bishop Bompas, &quot;is that the party 

 of Indians with whom he travelled, entirely with 

 out his sanction, made an unprovoked attack on 

 a number of Esquimaux encamped on the Copper- 



