332 CAPTAIN BACK'S LAND EXPEDITION— lS22-Zo. 



and owing to this circumstance the deer, which in ordinary seasons, migrated 

 southward frcwn their feeding grounds in the north, still remained in their 

 distant districts, and disappointed the Indians who were lying in wait for 

 them on the southward route. The sufferings of the natives from want of 

 food at this season were consequently very great ; and as they could not 

 understand the object of the observatory, or the use of the instruments, they 

 began to associate these with their misfortunes, and eventually to speak of 

 them as the causes of the scarcity of the deer. Nor were they singular in 

 this opinion, for on one occasion, when taking the dip, Back and King were 

 cautiously watched by two of the voyageurs, who, hearing only a mysterious 

 word at intervals, as "Now ! Stop !" etc., followed by perfect silence, looked 

 at each other, shrugged their shoulders, and, turning hastily from the railing 

 which surrounded the observatory, joined their companions, and informed 

 them that they had seen the white chief " raising the devil." 



On the 5th November the dwelling-house at Fort Eeliance was finished. 

 It was fifty feet long and thirty broad, was divided into four square rooms, 

 with a hall in the centre for the reception and accommodation of the Indians. 

 Towards the end of the month there was little food at the fort, with the ex- 

 ception of the stores for the expedition of the coming summer, which Back 

 could not afford to use. The distress at this time, especially among the 

 Indian refugees, was very great. Fortunately, Akaitcho arrived with a 

 supply of meat, and the sufferings of the people were for a time allayed. 

 Thus with alternating seasons of extreme want and temporary plenty, the 

 weeks and months wore on. But during that winter of 1833-34 the suffer- 

 ings of the wretched Indians were indescribable, and instances of cannibalism 

 occurred. " Our hall," writes Back, " was in a manner filled with invalids, 

 and other stupidly dejected beings, who, seated round the fire, occupied 

 themselves in roasting and devouring small bits of their reindeer garments, 

 which, even when entire, afforded them a very insufiicient protection against 

 a temperature of 102° below the freezing point ," or 70° below zero." 



The degree of cold experienced at Fort Reliance during January and 

 February 1834 is perhaps the lowest ever recorded in these regions. On the 

 morning of January 17th the mean temperature was 70° degrees below zero. 

 A surface of four inches of mercury, exposed in a common saucer, became 

 solid in two hours with a tenaperature of minus 57°. On the 4th February 

 the registered temperature was - 60°, and, as a fresh breeze was blowing, the 

 cold was nearly insupportable. Ink and paint froze, and the sextant cases 

 and boxes of seasoned wood split. " On one occasion," writes Back, " after 

 washing my face within three feet of the fire, my hair was actually clotted 

 with ice before I had time to dry it." During this terrible weather many 

 of the Indians died from want and exposure. 



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