The Spirit Of Democracy

Report of Captain C. F. Hall to
Mr. Henry Grinnell - What was
Discovered Concerning Sir John
Franklin's Party.

REPULSE BAY, June 20, 1869.

DEAR SIR: This day I have returned
from a sledge journey of ninety days to
and from King William's Land. It was
my purpose, and every preparation was
made, to make this journey last season;
but my attention then having been called
to Melville Peninsula, in the vicinity of
Fury and Hecla Straits, where native re-
port had it that white men had been
seen, I directed my expedition there by
way of Ami-toke, Oog-lit-isle, Ig-loo-
lik, with the ardent hope and expecta-
tion of rescuing alive some of Sir John
Franklin's last companions. The re-
sult of this journey was the finding of a
tenting-place of a few white men and a
stone pillar they had erected close by it
at the bottom of Parry Bay, which is
some fifty miles south of the western
outlets of Fury and Hecla Straits, and
the visiting of several places where
white men and their traces had been
seen by natives of Ig-loo-lik and vicin-
ity about the years 1866-7. I also gain-
ed much information from the natives of
Ig-loo-lik, north of Oog-lit-i Isle, and
thereabout, that confirmed the report I
heard in the winter of 1867-8, which I
have already stated. And still further
proofs of this report have been also ob-
tained on my late visit to King William's
Land. My sledge journey to the Straits of
Fury and Hecla, and thence down to
Parry Bay and back to Repulse Bay by
the route already defined, consumed
ninety six days.

The result of my sledge journey to
King William's Land may be summed
up thus: None of Sir John Franklin's
companions ever reached or died on
Montreal Island. It was late in July,
1848, that Crozier and his party, of about
forty or forty-five, passed down the west
coast of King William's Land in the vi-
cinity of Cape Herschel. The party
was dragging two sledges on the sea ice,
which was nearly in its last stage of dis-
solution - one, a large sled, laden with
an awning-covered boat, and the other,
a small one, laden with provisions and
camp material. Just before Crozier and
party arrived at Cape Herschel, they
were met by four families of natives, and
both parties went into camp near each
other. Two Esquimaux men, who were
of the native party, gave me much sad,
but deeply interesting information. Some
of it stirred my heart with gladness, in-
termingled with rage; for it was a con-
fession that they, with their companions,
did secretly and hastily abandon Crozier
and his party to suffer and die for need
of fresh provisions, when in truth, it
was in the power of the natives to save
every man alive. The next trace of Cro-
zier and his party is to be found in the
skeleton which McClintock discovered
a little below; to the southward and
eastward of Cape Herschel. This was
never found by the natives. The next
trace is a camping-place on the seashore
of King William's Land, about three
miles eastward of Pfeffer River, where
two men died and received Christian bu-
rial. At this place fish bones were found
by the natives, which showed them that
Crozier and his party had caught while
there a species of fish excellent for food,
with which the sea there abounds. The
next trace of this party occurs some five
or six miles eastward, on a long, low
point of King William's Land, where
one man died and was buried. Then
about S. S. E., two and a half miles fur-
ther, the next trace occurs, on Todd's
Island, where the remains of five men lie.
The next certain trace of this party is
on the west side of the inlet west of
Point Richardson, on some low land
that is an island or part of the main
land, as the tide may be. Here the awn-
ing-covered boat and the remains of
about thirty or thirty-five of Crozier's
party were found by the native Poo-yet-
ta, of whom Sir John Ross has given a
description in the account of his voyage
in the Victory, 1829-34.

In the spring of 1849, a large tent was
found by some of the natives whom I
saw, the floor of which was completely
covered with the remains of white men.
Close by were two graves. This tent
was a little way inland from the head of
Terror Bay.

In the spring of 1850, when the snow
was nearly all gone, an Esquimaux par-
ty, conducted by a native "well known
throughout the northern regions, found
two boats, with many skeletons in and
about them. One of these boats had
been previously found by McClintock;
the other was found lying from one quar-
ter to one-half mile distant, and must
have been completely entombed in snow
at the time McClintock's parties were
there, or they most assuredly would have
seen it. In and about this boat, besides
the many skeletons alluded to, were found
many relics, most of them similar in
character to those McClintock has enu-
merated as having been found in the
boat he discovered. The native who
conducted this native party in its search
over King William's Land is the same
individual who gave Dr. Rae the first in-
formation about white men taking diet
to the westward of where he (Dr. Rae)
then was (Pelly Bay), in the spring of
1854. His name is In-uook-poo-zhe-jook,
and he is a native of Neitchille, a very
great traveler, and very intelligent. He
is, in fact, a walking history of the fate
of Sir John Franklin's expedition. This
native I met when within one day's
sledge journey of King William's Land
-off Point Dryden - and after stopping
a few days among his people, he accom-
panied me to the places I visited on and
about King William's Land.

The same year that the Erebus and
Terror were abandoned, one of them
consummated the Great North-west Pas-
sage. Being five men aboard. The ev-
idence of the exact number is circum-
stantial. Everything about this North-
west Passage ship of Sir John Frank-
lin's Expedition was in complete order:
four boats were hanging high up at ship's
side; the vessel was in its winter housing of
sail or tent cloth. This vessel was found
by the Ook-joo-lik natives near O' Reilly's
Island, latitude 68° 30' North, longitude
99° 8' West, early in the spring of 1850,
it being frozen in, in the midst of a
smooth and unbroken floe of ice of only
one winter's formation. From certain
evidence I have gained, both at Ig-loo-
lik and King William's Land, there must
have been a dog of the greyhound spe-
cies belonging to one or the other of the
two ships. I only know this through
native testimony. It is quite likely that
some one in England can tell whether
there was a dog on board either of the
ships when Sir John Franklin left, in
1845.

To complete the history of Sir John
Franklin's last expedition, one must
spend a summer on King William's
Land with a considerable party, whose
only business should be to make searches
for records, which, beyond doubt, lie
buried on the island. I am certain, from
what I have heard the natives say, and
from what I saw myself, that little or
nothing can be gained by making search-
es there when the land is clothed in its
winter garb, for the Esquimaux have
searched the entire west
coast of King William's Land, on ei-
ther side, from its southern extreme up
to Cape Felix, the northern point, for
any thing and everything that belonged
to the companions of Sir John Frank-
lin, and these searches have been made
when the snow had nearly all disappeared
from the land.

My sledge company from Repulse Bay
to King William's Land consisted of
eleven souls, all Esquimaux. Although
they are as untamable as eagles by na-
ture, yet by their aid alone I was enabled
to reach points otherwise inaccessible,
and when there to gain much important
information relative to the fate of Sir
John Franklin's expedition. I tried
hard to accomplish far more than I did.
but not one of the company would, on
any account whatever consent to remain
with me in that country and make a
summer search over that island, which,
from information I had gained of the
atives, I had reason to suppose would
be rewarded by the discovery of the
whole of the manuscript records that
had accumulated in that great expedition
and been deposited in a vault a little
way inland or eastward of Cape Victo-
ry. Knowing, as I now do, the charac-
ter of the Esquimaux in that part of the
country in which King William's Land
is situated, I can not wonder at nor blame
the Repulse Bay natives for their refusal
to remain there as I desired. It is quite
probable, had we remained as I wished,
no one of us would have got out of the
country alive. How could we expect,
if we had got into straitened circumstan-
ces, that we should receive better treat-
ment from the Esquimaux of that coun-
try than the 105 souls who were under
the command of the heroic Crozier, some
time after landing on King William's
Land? Could I and my party, with rea-
sonable safety, have remained to make
a summer search on King William's Land,
it is not only probable that we should
have recovered the logs and journals of
Sir John Franklin's expedition, but have
gathered up and entombed the remains
of nearly one hundred of his compan-
ions; for they lie about the places where
the three boats have been found, and at
the large camping-place at the head of
Terror Bay, and the three other places that
I have already mentioned. In the cove,
west side of Point Richardson, however,
Nature herself has opened her bosom
and given sepulture to the remains of
the immortal heroes that died there.

Wherever the Esquimaux have found
the graves of Franklin's companions,
they have dug them open and robbed the
dead, leaving them exposed to the rav-
ages of wild beasts. On Todd's Island
the remains of five men were not buried,
but after the savages had robbed them of
every article that could be turned to any
account for their use, their dogs were al-
lowed to finish the disgusting work.

Wherever I found that Sir John Frank-
lin's companions had died I erected mon-
uments, then fired salutes and waved the
Star Spangled Banner over them in mem-
ory and respect of the great and true
discoverers of the North-west Passage.

I could have gathered great quantities -
a very great variety of relics of Sir John
Franklin's Expedition, for they are now
possessed by natives all over the Arctic
regions that I visited or heard of - from
Pond's Bay to Mackenzie River. As it
was, I had to be satisfied with taking up
on our sledges about 125 pounds, total
weight, of relics from natives about King
William's Land. Some of those I will
enumerate: 1st. A portion of one side
(several planks and ribs fast together)
of a boat, clinker built and copper-fas-
ten. This part of a boat is of the
one found near the boat found by Mc-
Clintock's party. 2d. A small oak sledge
runner, reduced from the sledge on which
the boat rested. 3d. Part of the mast
of the North-west Passage ship. 4th.
Chronometer box, with its number, name
of maker, and the Queen's broad-arrow
engraved upon it. 5th. Two long heavy
sheets of copper, three and four inches
wide, with counter sunk holes for screw
nails. On these sheets, as well as on
most every thing else that came from
the North west Passage ship, are numer-
ous stamps of the Queen's broad-arrow.
5th. Mahogany writing-desk, elaborate-
ly finished and bound in brass. 6th.
Many pieces of silver plate - forks and
spoons - bearing crests and initials of
the owners. 7th. Parts of watches. 8th.
Knives, and very many other things, all
of which you, Mr. Grinnell, and others
interested in the fate of the Franklin
Expedition, will take a sad interest in
inspecting on their arrival in the States.

I must now tell you of the heart-ren-
dering tragical part of my expedition
before I conclude this rapid, and I must
add an incomplete report, for after all it
is but a drop in the bucket to giving you
a full idea of the vast amount of inter-
esting and important information I have
gained of the natives about Repulse Bay,
Ig-loo-lik, Pelly Bay, Neitchille, Great
Fish, or Back River and King William's
Land, relative to the fate of Sir John
Franklin's Expedition. In the spring of
1865 I started from Repulse Bay on a
dog-sledge journey to King William's
Land. My company was entirely of na-
tives, and on our getting about two hun-
dred miles on our way we met a party of
Pelly Bay natives who were fleeing from
their country on account of "war" ra-
ging there. The effect on my company
was that on no consideration could they
be induced to proceed further, and, there-
fore, terrible as was the blow to my plans,
I had to turn back, trusting that I could
succeed in getting a small band of faith-
ful white men out of some whale-ships,
if they should happily make into Repulse
Bay. Not until the fall of 1867 was I
able to get the desired number of white
men to accompany me, besides my Es.
quimaux interpreters - Joe and Hannah
- as an escort of defense, while making
the long-delayed sledge journey to King
William's Land, and even then it was at
the very last moment - that is while the
whaling vessels were weighing anchors
and starting for the States - that I was
successful. The result of my taking
seamen that neither I nor their captains
knew much about proved as many would
expect. One of the men, Frank Lailer,
ever proved, during the year I employed
the party of five men, a most faithful,
hard-working and energetic man, fulfill-
ing every position in which I placed him
with ability and honor. Two men of
the five would, I am quite confident, have
proved better men than they did, had
they not been ill-advised. None of the
men, except noble Frank Lailer, ever ac-
companied me on any of my great sledge
journeys. In the fall of 1868, during a
mutinous attack made upon me, when
my faithful man was absent about seven
miles distant on business, I was compelled,
in self-defense, to call into requisition
a revolver. Coleman, the leader,
fell, and died in fifteen days. At once
the rebellion ended, and one of the band
came, and, like a man acknowledged free-
ly and truly that he and his companions
were altogether the guilty ones, and hoped
that I would forgive him, which I did on
the instant. I feel that had I not taken
this last, "dread alternative," my fate
would have been quite as sorrowful as
that of Henry Hudson.

C. F. HALL.