Preparing an Encampment on the Barren Grounds, Gathering Tripe de Roche

This engraving by Edward Finden was based on a drawing by Lieutenant George Back dated 16 September 1821.

George Back was a British Naval officer who was a member of an 1819-1822 overland expedition, known as the Coppermine Expedition. Led by Captain John Franklin (1786-1947), the aim of the expedition was to chart the northern coast of Canada as part of the British attempt to discover the North West Passage. The expedition was poorly equipped and ended with the death of 11 of the 20 men, mostly due to starvation.

Back documented the expedition in a series of 35 drawings which were engraved and used to illustrate John Franklin's book "Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of The Polar Sea in the Years 1819, 1820, 1821 and 1822".