( 141 ) 
Art. XXII. — Notice of the Progress of the Arctic Land Expe->. 
dition under the command of Limtenant Franklin^ In a 
Letter to Professor Jameson 
[[Dear Sir, London, November 26. 1820 . 
Knowing the lively interest you take in the progress of geographi- 
cal discovery, and having observed in the 1st volume of the Edin- 
burgh Philosophical Journal a short account of the plan of the Arctic 
Land Expedition, I use the liberty of transmitting to you an extract 
from a journal dated Cumberland House, June 1. 1820 , lately re- 
ceived from Hudson's Bay, and which brings up the progress of 
Lieutenant Franklin’s expedition to the 1 st of jJnne last. I re- 
plain, &c.[J 
jA^eter leaving York Fort, the expedition ascended HayeSj^ 
Steel, and Hill Rivers, which, with a series of small lakes, and 
their connecting streams, form one continued line of water com- 
munication to the Painted Stone, Over the low rock which has obr 
tained this name, the boats were launched into a rivulet named 
the Echemamis, which we descended till its junction with 4 
branch of Nelson River, Proceeding up this branch, and pass- 
ing through Play-green and Winnepeg lakes, they entered the 
Saskatchewan, and navigated it as far as Cumberland House, 
the wintering station of the expedition. 
York Fort is situated on a point of alluvial land which sepa- 
rates the mouths of Hayes and Nelson Rivers. Throughout the 
whole length of Hayes River, the country has an uniform low, 
flat, swampy appearance. The soil consists of decayed moss, 
iirimediately under which there is a thick bed of tenacious bluish 
clay, containing imbedded rolled stones. The stream continual- 
ly encroaching upon some points, and depositing its spoils in 
others, renders its banks alternately steep and shelving; but in 
general, the bed of the river is scooped put in this clay to the 
depth of thirty or forty feet. The plain above is covered with 
stunted larches, poplars, alders, and willows. Hayes River is 
formed by the junction of the Shammattwa and Steel Rivers ; 
and the latter branch is in like manner produced by the union 
^ Read before the Wernerian Society, December 1820. 
