After scouring the country within a radius of several miles, the
Lieutenant notified, as the result of his observations, that the
territory on which they had established themselves, and to which he gave
the name of Victoria Land, was a large peninsula about one hundred and
fifty square miles in extent, with very clearly-defined boundaries,
connected with the American continent by an isthmus, extending from
the lower end of Washburn Bay on the east, as fair as the corresponding
slope on the opposite coast. The Lieutenant next proceeded to ascertain
what were the resources of the lake and river, and found great reason to
be satisfied with the result of his examination. The shallow waters of
the lake teemed with trout, pike, and other available fresh-water fish;
and the little river was a favourite resort of salmon and shoals of
white bait and smelts. The supply of sea-fish was not so good; and
though many a grampus and whale passed by in the offing, the latter
probably flying from the harpoons of the Behring Strait fishermen there
were no means of capturing them unless one by chance happened to get
stranded on the coast; nor would Hobson allow any of the seals
which abounded on the western shore to be taken until a satisfactory
conclusion should be arrived at as to how to use them to the best
advantage.
The colonists now considered themselves fairly installed stalled in
their new abode, and after due deliberation unanimously agreed to bestow
upon the settlement the name of Fort Good Hope.
Alas! the auspicious title was never to be inscribed upon a map. The
undertaking, begun so bravely and with such prospects of success, was
destined never to be carried out, and another disaster would have to be
added to the long list of failures in Arctic enterprise.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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