They Speculated On
The Length Of The Journey, The Roughness Of The Waves, The Uncertainty Of
Provisions, The Exposure To Cold Where We Could Expect No Fuel, And The
Prospect Of Having To Traverse The Barren Grounds To Get To Some
Establishment.
The two interpreters expressed their apprehensions with
the least disguise and again urgently applied to be discharged, but only
one of the Canadians made a similar request.
Judging that the constant
occupation of their time as soon as we were enabled to commence the
voyage would prevent them from conjuring up so many causes of fear, and
that familiarity with the scenes on the coast would in a short time
enable them to give scope to their natural cheerfulness, the officers
endeavoured to ridicule their fears and happily succeeded for the
present. The manner in which our faithful Hepburn viewed the element to
which he had been so long accustomed contributed not a little to make
them ashamed of their fears.
On the morning of the 19th Dr. Richardson, accompanied by Augustus, paid
another visit to Terregannoeuck to see if he could obtain any additional
information respecting the country to the eastward, but he was
disappointed at finding that his affrighted family had not yet rejoined
him, and the old man could add nothing to his former communication. The
Doctor remarked that Terreganoeuck had a great dislike to mentioning the
name of the Copper-Mine River, and evaded the question with much
dexterity as often as it was put to him, but that he willingly told the
name of a river to the eastward and also of his tribe. He attempted to
persuade Augustus to remain with him and offered him one of his daughters
for a wife. These Esquimaux strike fire with two stones, catching the
sparks in the down of the catkins of a willow.
The despatches being finished were delivered this evening to Mr. Wentzel,
who parted from us at eight P.M. with Parent, Gagnier, Dumas, and
Forcier, Canadians whom I discharged for the purpose of reducing our
expenditure of provision as much as possible. The remainder of the party
including officers amounted to twenty persons. I made Mr. Wentzel
acquainted with the probable course of our future proceedings and
mentioned to him that, if we were far distant from this river when the
season or other circumstances rendered it necessary to put a stop to our
advance, we should in all probability be unable to return to it and
should have to travel across the barren grounds towards some established
post, in which case I told him that we should certainly go first to Fort
Enterprise, expecting that he would cause the Indians to place a supply
of dried provision there, as soon as possible after their arrival in its
vicinity. My instructions to him were that he should proceed to Point
Lake, transport the canoe that was left there to Fort Enterprise, where
he was to embark the instruments and books and carry them to Slave Lake,
and to forward the box containing the journals, etc., with the present
despatches by the next winter packet to England.
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