On quitting Norway House we took leave of our worthy companion, Augustus, who was to wait there until Captain Back should arrive. The tears which he shed at our parting, so unusual in those uncultivated tribes, showed the strength of his feelings, and I have no doubt, they proceeded from a sincere affection; an affection which, I can venture to say, was mutually felt by every individual. With great regret he learned that there was no immediate prospect of our again meeting, and he expressed a very strong desire to be informed, if another Expedition should be sent to any of the northern parts of America, whether by sea or land; and repeatedly assured me, that he and Ooligbuck would be ready at any time to quit their families and their country, to accompany any of their present officers, wherever the Expedition might be ordered.[16]
We reached Fort Alexander on the 8th of July, and Mr. Douglass having left us, I was enabled to offer a passage, as far as Montreal, to Monsieur Picard, one of the clergymen attached to the Roman Catholic Mission at the Red River Colony. [Sidenote: August.] We arrived at Lachine, near Montreal, on the 18th of August, and were hospitably entertained by Mr. James Keith, Chief Factor, and Agent of the Hudson's Bay Company, with whom we remained five days, to settle the accounts of the Expedition. After I had paid my respects to his Excellency, the Earl of Dalhousie, Governor in Chief of Canada, we proceeded to New York by the way of Lake Champlain. In our passage through the United States, we received the same kind attentions we had before experienced; our personal baggage, and the collections of Natural History, were forwarded by the officers of the customs without examination, and every assistance we required was promptly rendered.
[Sidenote: September.] Having embarked, in the packet ship, on the 1st of September, we reached Liverpool on the 26th, after an absence of two years, seven months and a half. Captain Back, Lieutenant Kendall, and Mr. Drummond, with the rest of the British party, arrived at Portsmouth on the 10th of October. I then received the distressing intelligence of the death of two excellent men, on their homeward passage from Bear Lake to York Factory; Archibald Stewart, who died from consumption; and Gustavus Aird, who was drowned in consequence of his jumping out of the boat, in his exertions to save her, when she was hurrying down the Pelican Fall, in Slave River. Until this account reached me, I had cherished the hope that our Expedition would have terminated without my having to record a single casualty. The loss of these men was the more deeply felt by me, from their uniform, steady, obedient, and meritorious conduct, which I had repeated opportunities of observing and admiring, while they were my companions in the Lion, during the voyage along the coast.