he observations and in the daily conduct of the Expedition. The
observations made by Mr. Hood, on the various phenomena presented by the
Aurora Borealis[1], will, it is presumed, present to the reader some new
facts connected with this meteor. Mr. Back was mostly prevented from
turning his attention to objects of science by the many severe duties
which were required of him, and which obliged him to travel almost
constantly every winter that we passed in America; to his personal
exertions, indeed, our final safety is mainly to be attributed. And here
I must be permitted to pay the tribute, due to the fidelity, exertion
and uniform good conduct in the most trying situations, of John Hepburn,
an English seaman, and our only attendant, to whom in the latter part of
our journey we owe, under Divine Providence, the preservation of the
lives of some of the party.

[1] Given in the Appendix to the Quarto Edition.

I ought, perhaps, to crave the reader's indulgence towards the defective
style of this work, which I trust will not be refused when it is
considered that mine has been a life of constant employment in my
profession from a very early age. I have been prompted to venture upon
the task solely by an imperious sense of duty, when called upon to
undertake it.

In the ensuing Narrative the notices of the moral condition of the
Indians as influenced by the conduct of the traders towards them, refer
entirely to the state in which it existed during our progress through
the country; but lest I should have been mistaken respecting the views
of the Hudson's Bay Company on these points, I gladly embrace the
opportunity which a Second Edition affords me of stating that the
junction of the two Companies has enabled the Directors to put in
practice the improvements which I have reason to believe they had long
contemplated. They have provided for religious instruction by the
appointment of two Clergymen of the established church, under whose
direction school-masters and mistresses are to be placed at such
stations as afford the means of support for the establishment of
schools. The offspring of the voyagers and labourers are to be educated
chiefly at the expense of the Company; and such of the Indian children
as their parents may wish to send to these schools, are to be
instructed, clothed, and maintained at the expense of the Church
Missionary Society, which has already allotted a considerable sum for
these purposes, and has also