By the 7th of September the party had returned to Fort Franklin, and the long winter was passed in comparative comfort. Every effort was made to amuse and interest the men, the entire number consisting of nearly fifty, including guides, interpreters, Canadian voyageurs, and Indians. [Sidenote: _DESCENT OF THE MACKENZIE RIVER_] The following June, 1826, preparations were made for the important work of the expedition. Descending the Mackenzie in four boats to the Polar Sea, the party here divided, Captain Franklin and Lieutenant Back with fourteen men pushing to the westward, Dr. Richardson with Mr. Kendall assisted by ten men in two boats going in an easterly direction toward the Coppermine River. Soon after parting, Franklin’s party had an unfortunate encounter with Eskimos, who pillaged their stores and caused them considerable annoyance. Making his way westward, he encountered dirty weather and penetrating fogs, which kept the poor shivering men perpetually enveloped in moisture. However, he reached latitude 70° 24´ N., longitude 149° 37´ W., which point of land he named after Lieutenant Back. He had surveyed three hundred and seventy-four miles of coast. It was now deemed advisable to return, and by September 31 the party reached Fort Franklin, where Richardson and his party had returned some days earlier after a successful voyage of five hundred miles, or nine hundred and two by the coast-line. The party under Richardson had been favoured with good weather, and, though detained by an occasional storm, were on the whole most fortunate. One of these shelters, Refuge Cove, Dr. Richardson describes:— “Myriads of mosquitoes, which reposed among the grass, rose in clouds when disturbed, and gave us much annoyance. Many snow birds were hatching on the point; and we saw swans, Canada geese, eider, king, Arctic, and surf ducks; several glaucous, silvery, black-headed, and ivory gulls, together with terns and northern divers. Some laughing geese passed to the northward in the evening, which may be considered as a sure indication of land in that direction.” During the second winter passed at Fort Franklin, the thermometer fell as low as 58° below zero. The Englishmen spent their time in making scientific observations and completing their data and records. Food and warmth, combined with good health, made it pass comparatively quickly, and in the spring the party made their way back to England. Honours of the most distinguished character awaited Franklin upon his return. To the map of North America he had added no less than twelve hundred miles, for which the nation rendered him enthusiastic applause. In 1829 he was knighted, Oxford conferred on him the degree of D.C.L., and the Geographical Society of Paris awarded him a gold medal. [Sidenote: _LAST JOURNEY OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN_]