Here he found that the construction of their quarters was proceeding apace. The framework of the house was already up, a fishery had been established which was yielding a plentiful supply of food, while Indians were already beginning to flock to Fort Reliance, as Back had named his winter quarters. The Indians of that country, it should be said, had an innate objection to being burdened with the sick and aged members of their tribe, and were in the habit of entrusting them to the care of the nearest white man, a species of dumping against which it was impossible to take any protective measures. Consequently Back soon found himself with a number of helpless dependants upon his hands, who were all the less welcome because the fishery, as time went on, did not prove an unalloyed success and the supply of food ran rather low. The latter misfortune was attributed by the natives simply and solely to the evil machinations of a stone observatory which the explorers erected at the Fort. The use of the astronomical instruments which it contained was totally beyond their comprehension, and in consequence they adopted what seemed to their untutored minds to be the only rational explanation, namely that they were in some way connected with witchcraft. This opinion was strengthened by the evidence of two Canadian voyagers, who, having chanced to peep into the observatory at the moment when Back and King were taking the dip of the magnetic needle, instantly told their companions that they had caught the white chief in the very act of raising the devil. More than once during the winter the food supply was in danger of failing. The party, however, was preserved from starvation by Akaitcho, the old Coppermine chief, who put in a timely appearance with a supply of fresh meat. Still the distress at the Fort was often very serious, for not only was food scarce, but the winter was one of the coldest on record. The thermometer often stood at 70° below zero, while some idea of the difficulties attending ablution may be gathered from the fact that, on one occasion, when Back was obliged to wash his face at a distance of three feet from the fire, his hair was clothed with ice before he had time to dry it. Towards the end of April a messenger arrived at the Fort with news that materially altered Back’s plans, for he brought with him extracts from the _Times_ which told of the safe return of Ross and his party. However, there was still his work of exploration to be carried out, so at the end of June he started off for the Great Fish River, whither carpenters had already been sent to build boats suitable for the voyage to the sea.