The ascent of the Coppermine was difficult, as winter had now set in, and the ice on the rocks afforded very poor foothold to the men who were towing the boats. The journey was, however, accomplished in safety, and on September 25 they reached Fort Confidence. Thence they passed on to Fort Simpson, where the leader of the expedition proposed to spend the next few weeks in writing up the account of his voyages and discoveries. These were completed by December 2, on which date he set out for his own station at Red River Settlement, which he reached on February 2, having travelled 1900 miles on foot in those sixty-one days. This was destined to be the last journey which the indefatigable young traveller undertook, for within a few months he was lying in his grave. The exact circumstances which led to the tragic death of one of the most brilliant and enthusiastic explorers England ever possessed have never been properly ascertained, and no one ever knew whether he was murdered or whether he committed suicide. Briefly put, the story is as follows: The Governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company at that time was a relation of the explorer, who was not, however, too well disposed towards him. Though the expedition had accomplished great things, it seems that Governor Simpson thought that it ought to have accomplished more; and in one of his letters to its leader he expressed his regret that the party was not prepared to spend another year in the Arctic regions, with a view to pushing its discoveries on in the direction of Fury and Hecla Strait. As the younger Simpson had already told him in one of his letters that his men were utterly worn out and his provisions exhausted, the tone adopted by the Governor seems to have been distinctly unreasonable. That his relative was perfectly prepared to prosecute his researches still further was obvious from an offer which he made to lead another expedition north in the following year, with a view to surveying Boothia Felix, and, if possible, to passing through Fury and Hecla Strait, and so making his way to Hudson’s Bay. This offer was, however, entirely ignored by Governor Simpson, who, indeed, gave the young explorer to understand that, if another expedition were fitted out, the command would be given to someone else.