It was not till the 14th that, by appointment, the boatmen were to
assemble at the house of Mr. Geddes to engage to accompany the
Expedition. Several persons collected but, to my great mortification, I
found they were all so strongly possessed with the fearful apprehension
either that great danger would attend the service, or that we should
carry them further than they would agree to go, that not a single man
would engage with us; some of them however said they would consider the
subject and give me an answer on the following day. This indecisive
conduct was extremely annoying to me especially as the next evening was
fixed for the departure of the ships.

At the appointed time on the following morning four men only presented
themselves and these, after much hesitation, engaged to accompany the
Expedition to Fort Chipewyan if they should be required so far. The
bowmen and steersmen were to receive forty pounds wages annually and the
middle men thirty-five pounds. They stipulated to be sent back to the
Orkney Islands free of expense and to receive their pay until the time of
their arrival. Only these few men could be procured although our
requisition had been sent to almost every island, even as far as the
northernmost point of Ronaldsha. I was much amused with the extreme
caution these men used before they would sign the agreement; they
minutely scanned all our intentions, weighed every circumstance, looked
narrowly into the plan of our route, and still more circumspectly to the
prospect of return. Such caution on the part of the northern mariners
forms a singular contrast with the ready and thoughtless manner in which
an English seaman enters upon any enterprise, however hazardous, without
inquiring or desiring to know where he is going or what he is going
about.