WHALE FISHERIES 199 



by Glasunoff, and the Yukon was ascended as far as 

 Anvik. In 1837 Dease and Simpson of the Hudson Bay 

 Company completed the survey of the Arctic coast be- 

 tween Franklin's Return Reef and Point Barrow; and Sir 

 Edward Belcher in H.M.S. Sulphur made various ex- 

 plorations between Sitka and Kadiak. In 1838 the 

 trading post at Nulato was established on the Yukon by 

 Malakoff. Evacuated during the winter, it was burned by 

 the natives, but reestablished in 1841 by Derabin who re- 

 mained in command. In the course of 1842-1843, the 

 Yukon as far up as Nowikakat was examined and mapped 

 by Zagoskin. In 1847 McMurray of the Hudson Bay 

 Company coming from the Mackenzie, descended the 

 Porcupine River and built Fort Yukon near its junction 

 with the Yukon River. 



In 1848 the Franklin search expeditions were sent out, 

 inaugurating the most active period of exploration of the 

 polar regions. The Herald and Plover were sent to 

 Bering Strait to cooperate with parties working from the 

 eastward. During this summer the first American whaler 

 to venture through Bering Strait, the ship Superior, Captain 

 Roys, was rewarded by a successful catch in a very short 

 time. The report of his success spreading, he was fol- 

 lowed in 1849 by a fleet of one hundred and fifty-four 

 American whalers, and the fishery was thus permanently 

 established north of the Strait. 



During the summer of 1849 the Herald and Plover, as- 

 sisted by the private yacht Nancy Dawson, explored the 

 Polar Sea north of Bering Strait, landed on Herald Island 

 and probably had a glimpse of Wrangell Land. A boat 

 expedition under Robert Pullen reached the Mackenzie 

 River from Point Barrow, ascended to Fort Macpherson 

 and returned home by way of York Factory and Hudson 

 Bay, one of the most remarkable journeys on record for 

 this region. In 1850 the Franklin search was energetically 



