228 Arctic and Antarctic Exploration [part i 
was a private one. A Committee raised the necessary 
funds, and the plan was to descend a river which was 
supposed to have its rise in the Great Slave Lake, and 
to fall into the Polar Sea. The object was to obtain 
tidings of, and to succour, the expedition of the Rosses, 
which had not been heard of for some years. Captain 
Back received the command, and his companion was 
Dr Richard King, a medical man. Only three other men 
were taken from England. The explorers started in 
February 1833, 15 men were engaged, and the expedition 
reached the Great Slave Lake. The source of what 
Back called the Great Fish River was discovered, but 
its course was found to be tortuous and full of rapids. 
Back, therefore, caused two boats to be built, specially 
adapted for river navigation, and for being taken over 
the portages. They were sharp at both ends, with good 
beam, and plenty of floor for stowage. They were 30 ft. 
long over all, 24 ft. keel, with extra oars, masts, and 
tillers. Their lower parts were carvel, and the upper 
clinker-built. Runners, plated with iron, were fixed on 
either side of the keel, so that they could easily be drawn 
over ice by six dogs and two men. Eight men formed 
the crew. 
Captain Back and Dr King were thus well equipped 
for discovering the course of the Great Fish River. But 
at this juncture the news was received of the safety of 
the Rosses, and it did not seem justifiable to do more 
than descend the river to its mouth. This Back did, 
finding that the river has a violent and tortuous course 
of 530 miles, sometimes expanding into large lakes, and 
having 83 falls and cascades. The estuary was surveyed, 
together with a large island named Montreal. Back 
intended to have traced the coast as far as Cape Turnagain, 
but only got 15 miles westward to Capes Richardson 
and Maconochie. Captain Back and Dr King both 
published narratives of the Great Fish River expedition. 
There still remained unexplored the coast line from 
Franklin's furthest to Cape Barrow on the west side, 
and from Cape Turnagain to Repulse Bay on the east. 
The Hudson's Bay Company resolved to undertake these 
discoveries. Peter Warren Dease, who had assisted the 
Franklin Expedition, and Thomas Simpson were selected 
