| Description | Nothing new in the area apart from an expedition to search for Sir John Franklin; expedition wintering at Fort Cumberland with Mr. G. Descambault; Sir John Richardson to leave with a canoe before midsummer; Tache thinks expedition perfectly useless; either Sir John has made way back to England or he has perished in the ice, and expedition unable to reach Arctic ice before midsummer 1849; firing of cannon was heard on Mackenzie's River, probably signals of distress, but impossible to go to their assistance; Dr Hay is also in search, but no news of him either, his rashness at sea being well known. Note adds that hearing of firing of cannon at mouth of Mackenzie's River seems to confirms Esquimaux Indians seeing a "big canoe" seen ashore there. |
| Sender Location | Written from Isle a la Crosse, Hudson's Bay Territory |