113 Arctic adventures the search continued 



thirty in the afternoon, got off the water and headed for Norman 

 Wells, beyond Fort Good Hope. There we were again grounded 

 by unfavorable weather. Our object was to reach the coast again 

 at Coppermine, on Coronation Gulf, a straight-line distance of 

 nearly 500 miles east from Aklavik, but more in the neighborhood 

 of 700 miles the way we would go. This meant flying across Great 

 Bear Lake, where we could probably find gas at an active airstrip 

 on the southern end of McTavish Arm. From there we could 

 take off across country until we found the Coppermine River, 

 and then it ought to be easy to follow it all the way to its mouth 

 on the coast. 



Finally, on Sunday, July 25, the weather reports were good, 

 except for a 22-mile wind along the coast. We took off and were 

 soon approaching Keith Arm of Great Bear Lake, the site of 

 Franklin's winter quarters, 1825-1826. It was from here that 

 Franklin and Back journeyed to the mouth of the Mackenzie and 

 west to Return Reef in their effort to reach Point Barrow, where 

 they hoped to meet Beech ey and the H.M.S. Blossom. And in 

 that same summer of 1826, Richardson and Kendall went from 

 here to Coppermine by boat, returning all the way to Fort 

 Franklin on foot! 



After obtaining a drum of 100-octane gas from some Royal 

 Canadian Air Force lads at Eldorado, we hit the air again and 

 skirted the east side of McTavish Arm to Hornby Bay at the 

 northern tip, then headed for the September and Coppermine 

 Mountains in the distance. Soon we were over the river itself, 

 with the long reach of the Dismal Lakes off on our port side and 

 the Septembers almost beneath us. High above the Coppermine 

 Mountains we were flying at 2,700 feet above sea level and could 

 see Coronation Gulf off in the distance. By 4:40 P.M. we were 

 on the water and had taxied in to an anchorage just off the sandy 

 beach and close to the Company's boat. With the help of 

 D'Arcy Munro, the Bay factor, we were soon ashore and enjoying 

 the hospitality of D'Arcy's comfortable quarters. Before supper 

 was over we had met nearly all the whites in the settlement, Dick 

 Connick and the other R.C.M.P. boys, Canon Webster and his 

 charming family, and the Transport people. We also were visited 



