muddy waters of the Mackenzie, and began to ascend the Great Bear Lake River. On the 5th, he arrived at his winter-quarters, where the members of the expedition were then, for the first time, all assembled. The officers, he found, had done him the honor of giving the name of Franklin to the “fort,” which he felt a grateful pleasure in retaining at their desire, though he had intended naming it Fort Reliance. Its position was determined to be in lat. 65° 11' 56" N., long. 123° 12' 44" W.; the number of persons belonging to the establishment, at this period, including three Indian women and six children, amounted to fifty.
The consideration of next importance to furnishing this large party with food, was to provide regular occupation for the men, who had not the resources to employ their time which the officers possessed. Accordingly some were appointed to attend exclusively to the fishing nets, others to bring home the meat whenever the hunters killed any deer; some were stationed to fell wood for fuel, others to convey it to the store-house, and a third set to split it for use. Two of the most expert travellers on snow-shoes were kept in nearly constant employment, conveying letters to and from the posts on the Mackenzie River and Slave Lake. As the days shortened, it was necessary to find employment during the long evenings, and a school was therefore established on three nights of the week, from seven o’clock to nine, for their instruction in reading, writing, and arithmetic; and it was attended by most of the British. They were divided in equal portions amongst the officers, whose labour was amply repaid by the advancement their pupils made: some of those who began with the alphabet, learned to read and write with tolerable correctness. Sunday was a day of rest, and, with the exception of two or three of the Canadians, the whole party uniformly attended Divine service, morning and evening. If, on the other evenings, for which no particular occupation was appointed, the men felt the time tedious, or if they expressed a wish to vary their employments, the hall of the principal building was at their service, to play any game they might choose; and on these occasions they were invariably joined
