A RETROSPECT.

It was about ten o'clock the same night when Mrs Barnett and Lieutenant

Hobson knocked at the postern gate of the fort. Great was the joy on seeing

them, for they had been given up for lost; but this joy was turned to mourning

at the news of the death of Norman. The brave fellow had been beloved by all,

and his loss was sincerely mourned. The intrepid and devoted Esquimaux received

phlegmatically the earnest expressions of gratitude of those they had saved, and

coulot be persuaded to come to the fort. What they had done seemed to them

only natural, and these were not the first persons they had rescued; so they

quietly returned to their wild life of adventure on the lake, where they hunted

the otters and water-birds day and night.

For the next three nights the party rested. Hobson always intended to set out

on June 2d; and on that day, all having recovered from their fatigues and the

storm having abated, the order was given to start.

Sergeant Felton had done all in his power to make his guests comfortable and

to aid their enterprise; some of the jaded dogs were replaced by fresh animals,

and now the Lieutenant found all his sledges drawn up in good order at the door

of the enceinte, and awaiting the travellers.

The adieux were soon over. Each one thanked Sergeant Felton for his

hospitality, and Mrs Paulina Barnett was most profuse in her expressions of

gratitude. A hearty shake of the hand between the Sergeant and his

brother-in-law, Long, completed the leave-taking,

Each pair got into the sledge assigned to them; but this time Mrs Barnett and

the Lieutenant shared one vehicle, Madge and Sergeant Long following them.

According to the advice of the Indian chief, Hobson determined to get to the

coast by the shortest route, and to take a north-easterly direction. After

consulting, his map, which merely gave a rough outline of the configuration of

the country, it seemed best to him to descend the valley of the Coppermine, a

large river which flows into Coronation Gulf.

The distance between Fort Confidence and the mouth of this river is only a

degree and a half-that is to say, about eighty-five or ninety miles. The deep

hollow formed by the gulf is bounded on the north by Cape Krusenstein, and from

it the coast juts out towards the north-west, ending in Cape Bathurst, which is

above the seventieth parallel.

The Lieutenant, therefore, now changed the route he had hitherto followed,

directing his course to the east, so as to reach the river in a few hours.

In the afternoon of the next day, June 3d, the river was gained. It was now

free from ice, and its clear and rapid waters flowed through a vast valley,

intersected by numerous but easily fordable streams. The sledges advanced pretty

rapidly, and as they went along, Hobson gave his companion some account of the

country through which they were passing. A sincere friendship founded on mutual

esteem, had sprung up between these two. Mrs Paulina Barnett was an earnest

student with a special gift for discovery, and was therefore always glad to

converse with travellers and explorers. Hobson, who knew his beloved North

America by heart, was able to answer all her inquiries fully.

"About ninety years ago," he said, "the territory through which the

Coppermine flows was unknown, and we are indebted for its discovery to the

agents of the Hudson's Bay Company. But as always happens in scientific matters,

in seeking one thing, another was found. Columbus was trying to find Asia, and

discovered America."

"And what were the agents of the Hudson's Bay Company seeking? The famous

North-West Passage?"

"No, madam," replied the young Lieutenant. "A century ago the Company had no

interest in the opening of a new route, which would have been more valuable to

its rivals than to it. It is even said that in 1741 a certain Christopher

Middleton, sent to explore these latitudes, was publicly charged with receiving

a bribe of ?500 from the Company to say that there was not, and could not be, a

sea passage between the oceans."

"That was not much to the credit of the celebrated Company," said Mrs

Barnett.

"I do not defend it in the matter," replied Hobson; "and its interference was

severely censured by Parliament in 1746, when a reward of ?20,000 was offered by

the Government for the discovery of the passage in question. In that year two

intrepid explorers, William Moor and Francis Smith, penetrated as far as Repulse

Bay in the hope of discovering the much-longed-for passage. But they were

unsuccessful, and returned to England after an absence of a year and a

half."

"But did not other captains follow in their steps, resolved to conquer where

they had failed?" inquired Mrs Barnett.

"No, madam; and in spite of the large reward offered by Parliament, no

attempt was made to resume explorations in English America until thirty years

afterwards, when some agents of the Company took up the unfinished task of

Captains Moor and Smith."

"The Company had then relinquished the narrow-minded egotistical position it

had taken up?"

"No, madam, not yet. Samuel Hearne, the agent, only went to reconnoitre the

position of a copper-mine which native miners had reported. On November 6, 1769,

this agent left Fort Prince of Wales, on the river Churchill, near the western

shores of Hudson's Bay. He pressed boldly on to the north-west; but the

excessive cold and the exhaustion of his provisions compelled him to return

without accomplishing anything. Fortunately he was not easily discouraged, and

on February 23d of the next year he set out again, this time taking some Indians

with him. Great hardships were endured in this second journey. The fish and game

on which Hearne had relied often failed him; and he had once nothing to eat for

seven days but wild fruit, bits of old leather, and burnt bones. He was again

compelled to return to the fort a disappointed man. But he did not even yet

despair, and started a third time, December 7th, 1770; and after a struggle of

nineteen months, he discovered the Coppermine river, July 13th, 1772, the course

of which he followed to its mouth. According to his own account, he saw the open

sea, and in any case he was the first to penetrate to the northern coast of

America."

"But the North-West Passage-that is to say, the direct communication by sea

between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans-was not then discovered?"

"Oh no, madam," replied the Lieutenant; "and what countless adventurous

sailors have since gone to seek it! Phipps in 1773, James Cook and Clerke in

1776 to 1779, Kotzebue in 1815 to 1818, Ross, Parry, Franklin, and others have

attempted this difficult task; but it was reserved to M'Clure in our own day to

pass from one ocean to the other across the Polar Sea."

"Well, Lieutenant, that was a geographical discovery of which we English may

well be proud. But do tell me if the Hudson's Bay Company did not adopt more

generous views, and send out some other explorer after the return of

Hearne."

"It did, madam; and it was thanks to it that Captain Franklin was able to

accomplish his voyage of 1819 to 1822 between the river discovered by Hearne and

Cape Turnagain. This expedition endured great fatigue and hardships; provisions

often completely failed, and two Canadians were assassinated and eaten by their

comrades. But in spite of all his sufferings, Captain Franklin explored no less

than five thousand five hundred and fifty miles of the hitherto unknown coast of

North America!"

"He was indeed a man of energy," added Mrs Barnett; "and he gave proof of his

great qualities in starting on a fresh Polar expedition after all he had gone

through."

"Yes," replied the Lieutenant; "and he met a terrible death in the land his

own intrepidity had discovered. It has now been proved, however, that all his

companions did not perish with him. Many are doubtless still wandering about on

the vast ice-fields. I cannot think of their awful condition without a shudder.

One day," be added earnestly, and with strange emotion-" one day I will search

the unknown lands where the dreadful catastrophe took place, and- "

"And," exclaimed Mrs Barnett, pressing his hand, "I will accompany you. Yes,

this idea has occurred to me more than once, as it has to you; and my heart

beats high when I think that fellow countrymen of my own-Englishmen-are awaiting

succour."

"Which will come too late for most of them, madam," said the Lieutenant; "but

rest assured some will even yet be saved."

"God grant it, Lieutenant!" replied Mrs Barnett; "and it appears to me that

the agents of the Company, living as they do close to the coast, are better

fitted than any one else to fulfil this duty of humanity."

"I agree with you, madam; they are, as they have often proved, inured to the

rigours of the Arctic climate. Was it not they who aided Captain Back in his

voyage in 1834, when he discovered King William's Land, where Franklin met his

fate? Was it not two of us, Dease and Simpson, who were sent by the Governor of

Hudson's Bay to explore the shores of the Polar Sea in 1838, and whose

courageous efforts first discovered Victoria Land? It is my opinion that the

future reserves for the Hudson's Bay Company the final conquest of the Arctic

regions. Gradually its factories are advancing further and further north,

following the retreat of the fur-yielding animals; and one day a fort will be

erected on the Pole itself, that mathematical point where meet all the meridians

of the globe."

During this and the succeeding journeys Jaspar Hobson related his own

adventures since he entered the service of the Company his struggles with the

agents of rival associations, and his efforts to explore the unknown districts

of the north or west; and Mrs Barnett, on her side, told of her travels in the

tropics. She spoke of all she had done, and of all she hoped still to

accomplish; so that the long hours, lightened by pleasant conversation, passed

rapidly away.

Meanwhile the dogs advanced at full gallop towards the north. The Coppermine

valley widened sensibly as they neared the Arctic Ocean. The hills on either

side sank lower and lower, and only scattered clumps of resinous trees broke the

monotony of the landscape. A few blocks of ice, drifted down by the river, still

resisted the action of the sun; but each day their number decreased, and a

canoe, or even a good-sized boat, might easily have descended the stream, the

course of which was unimpeded by any natural barrier or aggregation of rocks.

The bed of the Coppermine was both deep and wide; its waters were very clear,

and being fed by the melted snow, flowed on at a considerable pace, never,

however, forming dangerous rapids. Its course, at first very sinuous, became

gradually less and less winding, and at last stretched along in a straight line

for several miles. Its banks, composed of fine firm sand, and clothed in part

with short dry herbage, were wide and level, so that the long train of sledges

sped rapidly over them.

The expedition travelled day and night-if we can speak of the night, when the

sun, describing an almost horizontal circle, scarcely disappeared at all. The

true night only lasted two hours, and the dawn succeeded the twilight almost

immediately. The weather was fine; the sky clear, although somewhat misty on the

horizon; and everything combined to favour the travellers.

For two days they kept along the river-banks without meeting with any

difficulties. They saw but few fur-bearing animals; but there were plenty of

birds, which might have been counted by thousands. The absence of otters,

sables, beavers, ermines, foxes, &c., did not trouble the Lieutenant much,

for he supposed that they had been driven further north by over-zealous

tracking; and indeed the marks of encampments, extinguished fires, &c., told

of the more or less recent passage of native hunters. Hobson knew that he would

have to penetrate a good deal further north, and that part only of his journey

would be accomplished when he got to the mouth of the Coppermine river. He was

therefore most eager to reach the limit of Hearne's exploration, and pressed on

as rapidly as possible.

Every one shared the Lieutenant's impatience, and resolutely resisted fatigue

in order to reach the Arctic Ocean with the least possible delay. They were

drawn onwards by an indefinable attraction; the glory of the unknown dazzled

their sight. Probably real hardships would commence when they did arrive at the

much-desired coast. But no matter, they longed to battle with difficulties, and

to press straight onwards to their aim. The district they were now traversing

could have no direct interest for them; the real exploration would only commence

on the shores of the Arctic Ocean. Each one, then, would gladly hail the arrival

in the elevated western districts for which they were bound, cut across though

they were by the seventieth parallel of north latitude.

On the 5th June, four days after leaving Fort Confidence the river widened

considerably. The western banks, curving slightly, ran almost due north; whilst

the eastern rounded off into the coastline, stretching away as far as the eye

could reach.

Lieutenant Hobson paused, and waving his hand to his companions, pointed to

the boundless ocean.