208 SECOND JOURNEY TO THE 



cal observations, in writing up their jour- 

 nals, finishing the charts, drawings, and 

 sketches, examining and arranging the ob- 

 jects of natural history which had been col- 

 lected, and in various other matters. Per- 

 sons of education and intelligence seldom 

 find any difficulty about selecting such 

 means to occupy the mind and pass away 

 the time ; but this is not the case with the 

 uneducated. Aware of the necessity of 

 providing occupation for these, Captain 

 Franklin adopted the plan he thus cle-. 

 scribes : — 



" As the days shortened, it was necessary 

 to find employment during the long even- 

 ings, for those resident at the house, and a 

 school was, therefore, established, on three 

 nights of the week, from seven o'clock to 

 nine, for their instruction in reading, writing, 

 and arithmetic ; and it was attended by 

 most of the British party. They were 

 divided in equal portions amongst the offi- 

 cers, whose labour was amply repaid by the 

 advancement their pupils made : some of 

 those who began with the alphabet learned 



