'The Journey to the Polar Sea' is a non-fiction book written by John Franklin. It is about the Coppermine expedition, which was a British overland undertaking to survey and chart the area from Hudson Bay to the north coast of Canada, eastwards from the mouth of the Coppermine River. The expedition was organized by the Royal Navy as part of its attempt to discover and map the Northwest Passage. It was the first of three Arctic expeditions to be led by John Franklin and also included George Back and John Richardson, both of whom would become notable Arctic explorers in their own right. The expedition was plagued by poor planning, bad luck and unreliable allies. The expected assistance from the local fur trading companies and native peoples was less forthcoming than expected, and the dysfunctional supply line, coupled with unusually harsh weather and the resulting absence of game, meant the explorers were never far from starvation. Eventually, the Arctic coast was reached, but barely much of the area had been explored before the exhaustion of the party's supplies and the onset of winter forced them to turn back. What followed was a desperate retreat across uncharted territory in a state of starvation, often with nothing more than lichen to eat; 11 of the party of 22 died amid accusations of murder and cannibalism. The survivors were rescued by members of the Yellowknives Nation, who had previously given them up for dead.