DEASE AND SIMPSON, 1837. 137 



Miles. 



From Fort Franklin to Point Separation .. .. 525 



„ Point Separation to Pillage Point .. .. 129 



„ Pillage Point to Return Reef 374 



„ Return Reef to Fort Franklin 1020 



Total 2048 



Boat Voyage of Messrs. Dease and Simpson from the Bivcr Mackenzie 

 to Point Barrow in 1837. — Leaving Fort Chipevvyan in two clinker- 

 built boats of 6 feet beam and 24 feet keel on June 1st, Messrs. 

 Dease and Simpson were detained prisoners by the ice at Fort 

 Resolution from the 10th to the 21st; they passed the Hay River 

 on the 23rd, and arrived at Fort Simpson on the 28th, and at Fort 

 Norman at 10 p.m. on July 1st, having travelled 250 miles in 48 

 hours ; and reached Fort Good Hope on the evening of the 4th. 

 Starting again on the 5th, Eskimo caches were reached on the 8th, 

 and on the following day the natives themselves were met with, 

 and the Arctic Ocean reached. Detained by a north-west gale at 

 Shingle Point, Point Kay was passed on the afternoon of the 11th. 

 The violence of the wind prevented their moving until the 14th, 

 when the first regular flow and ebb was observed, and taking 

 advantage of the opening in the ice, they passed inside Herschel 

 Island. Some bones of an enormous whale were found here. On 

 the 15th Demarcation Point was reached. The tide, though insigni- 

 ficant, did us good service. Flaxman Island was gained on the 

 morning of the 20th; detained by a gale on the 21st and 22nd, 

 they reached Return Reef on the evening of the 23rd. Strong 

 gales delayed them at Point Comfort until the 26th, when Harrison 

 Bay was crossed. At Cape Simpson the tide rose 10 inches. On 

 August 1st Mr. Simpson started on foot with five men, each 

 carrying from 40 to 50 lbs. After passing Port Tangent 10 miles, 

 they obtained an oomiak from the Eskimo, in which they crossed 

 Dease Inlet and got to Point Christie on the 3rd, and gained Point 

 Barrow on the 4th ; thus connecting the discoveries of Beechey with 

 those of Franklin, and perfecting the outline of the American con- 

 tinent from the 150th to the 108th meridian. Returning easterly, 

 the boats were reached on the 6th. Mr. Dease had ascertained the 

 rise and fall of the tide to be 15 inches, and that the flood came from 

 the north-west. Demarcation Point was reached on the 11th, where 

 an easterly wind detained them until the 15th ; and it was not until 

 the evening of the 17th that Tent Island was reached. The ascent 

 of the Mackenzie was performed almost exclusively by towing, at 



