wardrobe were made him, when he complained of the cold.

On the 11th, after another long fast, the Iroquois who appeared to be gaining strength as his companions became weaker, brought them a piece of flesh which he said was part of a wolf; a tale which was implicitly received, but which they had afterwards reason to believe was a portion of the bodies of Belanger or Perrault. The conduct of this man was calculated to awaken their most serious suspicions; he became sullen and morose; remained away all day without any reason; would neither hunt nor cut wood; refused to sleep in the tent, and regretted he had ever quitted Franklin's party, to whom he threatened to return.

On the morning of Sunday, the 20th October after reading prayers, Michel was urged to go hunting, that he might if possible leave them some provision before he set out on his journey to Fort Enterprize, which he was to commence the next day. They then went about various occupations, Hepburn cutting wood, and Dr. Richardson gathering the tripe de roche. Poor Mr. Hood and Michel were left at the fire in earnest conversation, when suddenly the Doctor was alarmed by the report of a gun, and Hepburn calling loudly to him.

When he arrived at the tent, he found poor Hood lying lifeless, with the book he had been reading open before him, a ball having passed through his head. At first he was horror stricken with the idea that, in a fit of despondency, he had hurried himself into the presence of his Almighty Judge; but the conduct of the Iroquois soon gave rise to other thoughts, and excited suspicions which were confirmed when, upon examination, the shot was found to have entered at the back of the head; and the long gun supplied to the Indians could not have been placed in the position to inflict such a wound except by a second person.

Michel alleged that he knew nothing of it, and asked them menacingly if they suspected him of so foul a deed, though they had not for an instant even hinted at such a suspicion.

As the death of this excellent young officer removed the only bar to their journey, Dr. Richardson determined at once to set out for the fort; and had there been any doubt of the guilt of Michel, his conduct would now at once have removed it. He never suffered his companions to be alone together for a moment; was constantly asking them if they suspected him of the murder; and, indeed, it became but too evident that he would take the first opportunity to destroy them, to remove all evidences of his guilt. He relaxed this caution however to gather some tripe de roche, and the doctor and Hepburn hurriedly took advantage of the occasion to communicate their mutual suspicions, and Hepburn was so convinced that their safety depended on his death, that he offered to be the instrument of it; but Dr. Richardson, now thoroughly convinced of the necessity of such a dreadful act, determined to take the whole responsibility on himself, and accordingly, when Michel came up with them, he shot him through the head with a pistol. Michel had gathered no tripe de roche; he had halted to put his gun in order, no doubt with the intention of destroying them, while engaged in encamping, that same evening.

Six days did Dr. Richardson and Hepburn drag on their weary limbs, existing on lichens and the skin cloak of poor Hood. On the evening of the 6th they came in sight of the fort, and with sensations not to be described, beheld smoke issuing from one of the chimnies; but alas! how were their joyful anticipations blasted, when they entered the desolate building and beheld the filth and wretchedness of their poor companions; their own misery had stolen upon

them by degrees, and they had become accustomed to the contemplation of each other's emaciated figures, but the ghastly countenances, dilated eyeballs, and sepulchral voices of Franklin and his party, (two of whom died shortly after,) were more than they could at first bear.

The condition of the whole party now daily became worse; the hardness of the floor produced sores: after suffering acute pains of hunger all day, at night they were sated in dreams with every luxury. Their tempers grew so fretful, that the kindest expressions were received pettishly, and Captain Franklin himself admits that he became excessively peevish. Each thought the other weaker in intellect than himself, and more in need of advice and assistance.

On the 7th November, the long and ardently wished for relief, came by the hands of three Indians, sent forward by Mr. Back, and by these men they were tended with the greatest care and solicitude, and conveyed to Moose-Deer Island where they met that gallent young officer, to whose exertions they unquestionably owed their lives. From this spot their progress homeward was comfortable and easy, and thus terminated a journey, by land and water, of five thousand five hundred and fifty miles, during which, a degree of misery had been suffered, hardly to be paralleled in any journey, in any quarter of the globe, and which had been endured with the most unflinching courage and christian resignation.

CHAPTER XVII.

RUSSIAN ASIATIC DISCOVERIES.

THE whole of the immense extent of country from the White Sea to Behring's Straits, embracing one hundred and forty-five degrees of longitude, has been discovered, surveyed, and described by Russians, who, accustomed to the severity of the climate and to the privations inseparable from it, have conquered all those difficulties and impediments which arrested others. But they are far too numerous to allow of the detail in the present work, which their importance so well deserves, and we have therefore embodied in a tabular form those which are of the greatest interest in a geographical point of view, while the reader who desires more information, will find his every wish gratified in the appendix to Admiral Von Wrangell's narrative of his expedition to the Polar Sea in the years 1820-1-2-3.2

2 Madden; second edition, 1844, edited by Colonel Sabine.

RUSSIAN DISCOVERIES.

201

OBJECT AND EXTENT OF DISCOVERY.

Sent to the Ienissei to demand tribute from the Samoïedes.
Descended the Ienissei to its mouth.

Descended the Ienissei. Entered the Polar Ocean, and reached the Pässida.
Discovered the Lena.

Sent to levy tribute, and discovered the Olekma, the Iana, and the Tshéndoma.
Discovered the Indigirka, and on its banks left a party of Cossacks, who
probably discovered the Alaseia.

Formed a winter establishment about 100 wersts from the mouth of the Kolyma.
Sailed eastward, probably as far as Tchaun Bay.

Sailed from the Kolyma, for the purpose of reaching the Anadyr, but returned
unsuccessful.

Sailed eastward of Kolyma, for the purpose of reaching the Pogytsha, but
was unsuccessful, though he probably penetrated beyond Cape Chelagskoi.
Discovered the Svätoi Noss, Great Tchukotsky Noss, and, passing Tchaun
Bay, the Island of Koliutchin, the River Anadyr, and eventually reached
Behring's Straits; discovered that the Pogytsha was the same river as
the Anadyr. Alexiew and Ankudinow were wrecked, and all miserably
perished, either from disease or hostile attacks, without effecting any
further discovery.

Met Deshnew and his companions on the banks of the Anadyr.

Followed the preceding expedition, and reached the Anadyr, after a journey
of seven weeks. Staduchin subsequently reached the Penchena, where
he perished.

Continuing the expedition he had commenced with Semen Motóra, he ex

plored the mouth of the Anadyr, and returned to his winter settlement. Ordered to make enquiries respecting an island supposed to exist at the mouth of the Kolyma, but did not ascertain anything.