their heads; the hands were placed on the knees, as if they felt difficulty in sustaining the weight, whilst the figures opposite to them stood in an easy attitude, with their hands resting on their hips. The posts, poles, and figures, were painted red and black, and the carving was executed with a truth and boldness which bespoke no little advancement in sculpture.* In the mechanical arts they had arrived at considerable perfection. The chief's canoe was of cedar, forty-five feet long, four wide, and three feet and a half deep. It was painted black, and ornamented with drawings of various kinds of fish in white upon the dark ground, and the gunwale, both fore and aft, was neatly inlaid with the teeth of the sea-otter. In this vessel, according to the old chief's account, he undertook, about ten winters before, a voyage towards the mid-day sun, having with him forty of his subjects; on which occasion he met with two large vessels full of white men, the first he had seen, by whom he was kindly received. Mackenzie very plausibly conjectured that these might be the ships of Captain Cook.

It was now the 18th of July, and, surrounded by friendly natives, with plenty of provisions, pleasant weather, and the anticipation of speedily reaching the great object of their wishes, they resumed their voyage in a large canoe, accompanied by four of the Indians. The navigation of the river, as they approached the ocean, was interrupted by rapids and cascades; but their skill in surmounting these impediments was now considerable, and on the 20th, after a passage of thirty-six miles, they arrived at

* Mackenzie's Travels, p. 331.

the mouth of the river, which discharges itself by various smaller channels into an arm of the Pacific Ocean. The purpose of the expedition was now completed, and its indefatigable leader painted in large characters, upon the face of the rock under whose shelter they had slept, this simple memorial: "Alexander Mackenzie, from Canada by land, the twenty-second of July, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-three." The inscription was only writ ten in vermilion, and has probably long ago been washed away by the fury of the elements; but the name of Mackenzie is enduringly consecrated in the annals of discovery, as the first person who penetrated from sea to sea across the immense continent of North America. His return by the same route it is unnecessary to pursue.

CHAPTER IV.

Discoveries along the Shores of the Arctic Ocean.

First and Second Expeditions of Franklin-Voyage of Captain Beechey.

THE discoveries of Hearne and Mackenzie established the great fact that there is a northern coast in America, washed by the Arctic Ocean, which forms, in all probability, its continuous boundary ; and they demonstrated the practicability of reaching this limit by passing over the vast plains which stretch northward from Canada and Hudson's Bay. The voyages of Captain Parry, also, which have been already detailed,* fully corroborated this opinion; and it appeared evident that another expedition, properly conducted, might reach this shore, and more fully examine its whole extent. Such an expedition, accordingly, sailed from England on the 23d of May 1820, its command being intrusted to Lieutenant, now Sir John Franklin, assisted by Dr Richardson, an able mineralogist and natural historian. During the first portion of their journey, they followed the chain of the great lakes, instead of the more eastern track pursued by Hearne, and having descended the Coppermine River, arrived

* Polar Seas and Regions, 3d edit. p. 263-323.

VOYAGE ALONG THE ARCTIC SHORES. 209

on 21st July at the shore of the Arctic Ocean, where they commenced their career of discovery. Important as were the particulars of their survey, when considered in relation to the furtherance of geographical science, a minute detail is here unnecessary, and we shall attempt only a general sketch.

Paddling along the coast to the eastward, on the inside of a crowded range of islands, they encamped on shore after a run of thirty-seven miles, in which they experienced little interruption, and saw only a small iceberg in the distance, though that beautiful luminous effulgence emitted from the congregated ices, and distinguished by the name of the iceblink, was distinctly visible to the northward. The coast was found of moderate height, easy of access, and covered with vegetation; but the islands were rocky and barren, presenting high cliffs of a columnar structure. In continuing their voyage, the dangers which beset a navigator in these dreadful polar solitudes thickened gloomily around them: The coast became broken and steril, and at length rose into a high and rugged promontory, against which some large masses of ice had drifted, threatening destruction to their slender canoes. In attempting to round this cape the wind rose, an awful gloom involved the sky, and the thunder burst over their heads, compelling them to encamp till the storm subsided. They then, at the imminent risk of having the canoes crushed by the floating ice, doubled the dreary promontory, which they denominated Cape Barrow, and entered Detention Harbour, where they landed. Around them the land consisted of mountains of granite, rising abruptly from the water's edge, destitute of vegetation, and attaining an

N

210 CAPE KATER AND BANKES' PENINSULA.

elevation of 1400 or 1500 feet; seals and small deer were the only animals seen, and the former were so shy that all attempts to approach within shot were unsuccessful. With the deer the hunters were more fortunate; but these were not numerous; and whilst the ice closed gradually around them, and their little stock of provisions, consisting of pemmican and cured beef, every day diminished, it was impossible not to regard their situation with uneasiness. Rounding Cape Kater, they entered Arctic Sound, and sent a party to explore a river upon the banks of which they expected to find an Esquimaux encampment. All, however, was silent, desolate, and deserted: even these hardy natives, bred amidst the polar ices, had removed from so barren a spot, and the hunters returned with two small deer and a brown bear; the latter animal so lean and sickly looking that the men declined eating it; but the officers boiled its paws and found them excellent.

Proceeding along the eastern shore of Arctic Sound, to which they gave the name of Bankes' Peninsula, the expedition made its painful way along a coast indented by bays, and in many places studded with islands, till on 10th August they reached the open sea; and sailing, as they imagined, between the continent and a large island, found to their deep disappointment that, instead of an open channel, they were in the centre of a vast bay: The state of the expedition now called for the most serious consideration upon the part of their commander. So much time had already been spent in exploring the sounds and inlets, that all hope of reaching Repulse Bay was vain; both canoes had sustained material injury; the fuel was expend