Such of the
Indian children as their parents may wish to send to these schools are to
be instructed, clothed, and maintained at the expense of the Church
Missionary Society which has already allotted a considerable sum for
these purposes and has also sent out teachers who are to act under the
superintendence of the Reverend Mr. West, the principal chaplain of the
Company.
We had the pleasure of meeting this gentleman at York Factory, and
witnessed with peculiar delight that great benefit which already marked
his zealous and judicious conduct. Many of the traders and of the
servants of the Company had been induced to marry the women with whom
they had cohabited; a material step towards the improvement of the
females in that country.
Mr. West, under the sanction of the Directors, has also promoted a
subscription for the distribution of the Bible in every part of the
country where the Company's Fur Trade has extended, and which has met
with very general support from the resident chief factors, traders, and
clerks. The Directors of the Company are continuing to reduce the
distribution of spirits gradually among the Indians, as well as towards
their own servants, with a view to the entire disuse of them as soon as
this most desirable object can be accomplished. They have likewise issued
orders for the cultivation of the ground at each of the posts, by which
means the residents will be far less exposed to famine whenever, through
the scarcity of animals, the sickness of the Indians, or any other cause,
their supply of meat may fail.
It is to be hoped that intentions, so dear to every humane and pious
mind, will, through the blessing of God, meet with the utmost success.
...
FRANKLIN'S JOURNEY TO THE POLAR SEA.
CHAPTER 1.
DEPARTURE FROM ENGLAND.
TRANSACTIONS AT STROMNESS.
ENTER DAVIS STRAITS.
PERILOUS SITUATION ON THE SHORE OF RESOLUTION ISLAND.
LAND ON THE COAST OF LABRADOR.
ESQUIMAUX OF SAVAGE ISLANDS.
YORK FACTORY.
PREPARATIONS FOR THE JOURNEY INTO THE INTERIOR.
DEPARTURE FROM ENGLAND.
May, 1819.
On Sunday the 23rd of May the whole of our party embarked at Gravesend on
board the ship Prince of Wales, belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company,
just as she was in the act of getting under weigh with her consorts the
Eddystone and Wear. The wind being unfavourable on the ebb tide being
finished, the vessels were again anchored; but they weighed in the night
and beat down as far as the Warp, where they were detained two days by a
strong easterly wind.
Having learned from some of the passengers, who were the trading Officers
of the Company, that the arrival of the ships at either of the
establishments in Hudson's Bay gives full occupation to all the boatmen
in their service, who are required to convey the necessary stores to the
different posts in the interior; that it was very probable a sufficient
number of men might not be procured from this indispensable duty; and,
considering that any delay at York Factory would materially retard our
future operations, I wrote to the Under Secretary of State requesting his
permission to provide a few well-qualified steersmen and bowmen at
Stromness to assist our proceedings in the former part of our journey
into the interior.
