John Franklin by John Wilson

Author:John Wilson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: BIO000000, BIO006000
Publisher: Dundurn Press Limited
Published: 2010-11-05T04:00:00+00:00

The winter at Fort Franklin was a much more enjoyable experience than the one at Fort Enterprise. Despite the fact that there were sometimes more than fifty people around the fort, food was never a problem. By fishing and hunting the men laid in a good supply of frozen meat and they added to this stock throughout the cold months. Each officer had his own private room in a building measuring thirteen by seven metres. The men were a bit more cramped. Twenty or thirty of them lived in a building eleven by seven metres but, at least according to the officers, spirits were high. The men received schooling in reading, writing, and arithmetic and participated in games and dances to help combat boredom. Sixty people attended the Christmas party. It was a raucous occasion, with songs and speech in English, Scots Gaelic, French, Inuit, and Chipewyan, Dogrib and Hare dialects, and music provided by fiddle and bagpipes.

In the new year, Peter Dease’s wife gave birth to a daughter. The explorers celebrated with a feast consisting of boiled and roasted fish, accompanied by fish soup and a bottle of preserved peppers. There was no bread since the mice had eaten the flour. The diet was undoubtedly limited, but there was always enough.

As spring progressed, they prepared for that summer’s exploration. Two parties were to set out, both from the mouth of the Mackenzie River. Franklin, Back, eleven sailors and marines, two voyageurs, and one interpreter would take two boats and map the coast to the west and possibly meet up with a ship, commanded by Franklin’s old companion Beechey, that was to sail along the coast from the Bering Strait. Richardson and ten men would map to the east as far as the mouth of the Coppermine River and then return to Great Bear Lake.

By July 4, the two parties were at the mouth of the Mackenzie and ready to go their separate ways. There was a world of difference between this occasion and the first expedition. Then, Franklin was in charge of an unhappy, squabbling group of tired men, with very little food and unsuitable canoes. Now he was accompanied by fit, enthusiastic sailors who would never question his orders. He had custom-designed boats, the best equipment available, a wealth of presents for the Inuit he hoped to encounter, and food enough for three months. What could go wrong?

In fact, very little did go wrong. The only time Franklin’s party was in danger was just after they had begun. On July 7, Franklin spotted an Inuit encampment on shore. Approaching to trade, the Europeans’ boats were soon surrounded by dozens of kayaks whose owners eagerly offered everything they had. Fearing that the situation might get out of control, Franklin ordered his boats to pull off to deeper water. Unfortunately, the falling tide stranded them high and dry. More Inuit arrived until there were 250 to 300 men, women, and children swarming the boats.

Overcome by the sight of all the treasures in the boats, some of the Inuit became aggressive.

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