In the Arctic Regions, 469 
one of whom I learned that a party of ‘white men’ (Kablounans) had 
perished from want of food some distance to the westward, and not far 
beyond a large river, containing many falls and rapids, Subsequently, 
further particulars were received, and a number of articles purchased, 
which places the fate of a portion, if not of all, of the then survivors 
of Sir John Franklin’s long-lost party beyond a doubt—a fate terrible 
as the imagination can conceive. : 
“The substance of the information obtained at various times and 
from various sources was as follows— 
“Tn the spring, four winters past (spring, 1850,) a party of ‘ white 
men,’ amounting to about forty, were seen traveling southward over 
the ice and dragging a boat with them, by some Esquimaux, who 
were killing seals near the north shore of King Williams’ Land, which 
isa large island. None of the party could speak the Esquimaux lan- 
guage intelligibly, but by signs the natives were made to understand 
that their ship, or ships, had been crushed by the ice, and that they 
‘ were now going to where they expected to find deer to shoot. From 
the appearance of the men, all of whom except one officer, looked 
thin, they were then supposed to be getting short of provisions, and 
purchased a small seal from the natives, At a later date the same 
season, but previous to the breaking up of the ice, the bodies of some 
thirty persons were discovered on the continent, and five on an island 
near it, about a long day’s journey to the N. W. of a large stream, 
which can be no other than Back’s Great Fish River, (named®by the 
Esqiimaux Doot-ko-hi-calik,) as its description, and that of the low 
shore in the neighborhood of Point Ogle and Montreal Island, agree 
exactly with that of Sir George Back. Some of the bodies had been 
buried, (probably those of the first victims of famine,) some were in a 
tent or tents, others under the boat, which had been turned over to 
_ form a shelter, and several lay scattered about in different directions, 
Of those found on the island, one was supposed to have been an officer, 
as he had a telescope strapped over his shoulders, and his double-bar- 
relled gun lay underneath him. 
“ Fyrom the mutilated state of many of the corpses, and the contents 
of the kettles, it is evident that our wretched countrymen had been 
driven to the last resource—cannibalism—as a means of prolonging 
existence. 
“ There appeared to have been an abundant stock of ammunition, as 
the powder was emptied in a heap on the ground by the natives out of 
the kegs or cases containing it; and a quantity of ball and shot was 
found below high-water mark, having probably been left on the ice 
close to the beach. There must have been a number of watches, com- 
passes, telescopes, guns, (several double-barreled,) &c., all of which 
appear to have been broken up, as I saw pieces of those different arti- 
cles with the Esquimaux, together with some silver spoons and forks. 
I purchased as many as I could get. A list of the most important of 
these I enclose, with a rough sketch of the crests and initials on the 
