474 THE FRANKLIN SEARCH— l^4B-b\. 



the ground thickly ; and it is impossible to imagine anything having a more 

 dreary aspect than the lakes which frequently barred our way. We did not 

 see them till we came suddenly to the brink of the rocks which bounded 

 them ; and the contrast of the dark surface of the waters with the unbroken 

 snow of their borders, combined with the loss of all definite outline in the 

 fog, caused them to resemble hideous pits, sinking to an unknown depth. 

 . . . After walking tiU half-past five, without perceiving a single tree, or 

 the shghtest shelter, we came to a convex rock, from which the snow 

 had been swept by the wind. On this we resolved to spread our blankets, 

 as it was just big enough to accommodate the party. There being no fuel 

 of any kind on the spot, we went supperless to bed. Some of the party had 

 no rest, and we heard them groaning bitterly; but others, among whom 

 were Mr Eae and I, slept well." When we remember that Sir John, or, as 

 he is better known ia these pages, Dr Richardson, was born at Dumfries in 

 1787, and that consequently, when he accomplished this jotmiey, sleeping 

 every night in the open air in a cHmate severe enough to turn the russet 

 coat of the hare white, he was sixty-one years of age, we may arrive at some 

 approximate estimate of the old gentleman's pluck and vigour. After sleeping 

 like coneys in the hollow of a rock, the travellers were up and on the march 

 at half-past four on the 12th ; and at eight o'clock, and before having had 

 breakfast, forded a branch of the Kendall, the ice-cold water of which came 

 up to their waists. As they travelled along in single file on the 13th, they 

 were seen by a party of Indians, who immediately " made a smoke " as a 

 signal. This intimation of the goodwill of the Indians and of their position, 

 which was on a hill-side distant six miles from Eichardson and his party, 

 was answered by the travellers as soon as they could gather a few handfuls 

 of moss, and strike a Ught. The white men then marched straight toward 

 the Indian camp, where they received a hearty welcome, a supply of rein- 

 deer meat, and the services of a native guide to Fort Confidence, where the 

 whole party arrived in safety at four p.m. on the 15th September. Richard- 

 son found that the houses erected by Dease and Simpson had been burned 

 down ; but that Mr Bell, of the Company's service, who had been deputed 

 to prepare winter quarters for the party at Fort Confidence, was already 

 weU forward with his work. The day after arriving at the fort was spent 

 in rest and in writing; and the following day, the 17th, being Sunday, 

 Richardson assembled his people in the hall, read Divine service, and re- 

 turned thanks to the Almighty for the protection and the safe return that 

 had been vouchsafed to aU. 



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