Some Further Traces of the Franklin Retreat

Abstract

THIS is the narrative of an overland trip along the south coast of King William Island, from Gjoa Haven to the western entrance to Simpson Strait, during the months of June and July 1931, with Mr. William Skinner, of the Hudson's Bay Company. Our principal object was to search for remains of members ofthe Franklin Expedition, reported by the Eskimo. Gjoa Haven is an excellent small land-locked harbour on the eastern shore of Petersen Bay, with a post of the Hudson's Bay Company: the trading centre for an extensive area. The harbour was discovered in 1903 by the late Captain Roald Amundsen, during the course of his North-West Passage, and sheltered the Gjoa for two consecutive winters. Striking out from the harbour across the ice of the bay, the western shore is gained in about three hours' walking. At this period of the year the short arctic summer is at hand; the weather is mild and often pleasant; most of the winter snows have disappeared from the land; and the surface of the ice is covered with pools and small lakes of water of varying depths up to 2 or 3 feet. With native water-boots made from seal skin the feet are adequately protected and the surface water is no great impediment to walking. For this trip we had dispensed with the use of dogs, which allowed us more freedom to examine the shore-line. With the assistance of a native boy we packedwhat equipment was necessary: a small silk tent, two caribou skins, a light blanket, primus lamp, food, extra boots, etc. The packs weighed about 60 lb. each and proved of no great discomfort, except on those days when the hot sun shone down from an unclouded sky with almost tropical force. For food we depended on the easily procured seal and the small salmon-trout which are obtainable through holes in the lake-ice. The western shore of Petersen Bay runs south-westerly as far as the Todd Islands, which are 18 miles distant from Gjoa Haven. The island is of limestone, the coast exceedingly rocky and bare of vegetation except in low-lying patches, where mosses, grasses, and a profusion and variety ofthe hardy alpine flowers lend a pleasing contrast to the sombreness of the landscape in general. The land rises gently from the coast in a series of terraces to an immediate and fairly uniform height of 150 feet; numerous shoals and low rocky islets occur at regular intervals along the beach. Booth Point, the westerly extremity of Petersen Bay, is not a prominent landmark. Several native stone caches and tent rings were found here; these are quite common all along the coast. At this point we also discovered a number of Eskimo graves, arranged after the manner of surface burial peculiar to the people. A ring of small boulders surrounds the remains, placed on the surface wrapped in caribou or seal skins. Time and weather remove all traces except the whitened bones and the ring of boulders, which latter are symbolical protection from the influence of malicious spirits. On every grave are miniature weapons, fashioned from wood or bone, for the hunters, and diminutive household goods for the women. Booth Point marks the most easterly point on King William Island at which