On June 12th, 1846, Rae told six Scotsmen, two French Canadians, one Métis and one Cree, “tomorrow we depart on the adventure of our lives.” Then they set to packing the two boats. They took muskets, pemmican (a mixture of meat and animal fat packed into bags), a fishing net, oil lamps and stoves, four windows and an inflatable rubber boat. Next morning a salute of cannon fire and cheers accompanied the eleven men as they set off on their journey.
The expedition was planned to last fifteen months, yet they took only food enough for three. All the men were picked for their expertise, and this would be the first Arctic expedition to live off the land. It was a revolutionary concept, one that John Franklin could not understand.
John Rae
Typically, a pemmican recipe might contain:
4 pounds dried caribou or moose meat
3 pounds Saskatoon berries
2 pounds lard Salt to taste
The food provided energy and nourishment without needing to be kept cold.
As Rae set off in the spring of 1846, far to the north, John Franklin and his men were preparing to leave their camp at Beechey Island, where they had spent a comfortable first winter. Franklin had shown there was no way through to the west or north and was ready to head south and west down a strait he had discovered, Peel Sound. The only blot had been the deaths of three sailors, but they had been sick for some time. They should never have come on the voyage in the first place. All in all, things were going very well for Sir John and his men.