In the course of the month the ice gradually wore away from the south side of the lake but the great mass of it still hung to the north side with some snow visible on its surface. By the 21st the elevated grounds were perfectly dry and teeming with the fragrant offspring of the season. When the snow melted the earth was covered with the fallen leaves of the last year, and already it was green with the strawberry plant and the bursting buds of the gooseberry, raspberry, and rose bushes, soon variegated by the rose and the blossoms of the choke-cherry. The gifts of nature are disregarded and undervalued till they are withdrawn and in the hideous regions of the Arctic Zone she would make a convert of him for whom the gardens of Europe had no charms or the mild beauties of a southern climate had bloomed in vain.

Mr. Williams found a delightful occupation in his agricultural pursuits. The horses were brought to the plough and fields of wheat, barley, and Indian corn promised to reward his labours. His dairy furnished us with all the luxuries of an English farm.

On the 25th the ice departed from Pine Island Lake. We were however informed that Beaver Lake, which was likewise in our route, would not afford a passage before the 4th of June. According to directions left by Mr. Franklin applications were made to the chiefs of the Hudson's Bay and North-West Companies' posts for two canoes with their crews and a supply of stores for the use of the Expedition. They were not in a condition to comply with this request till the arrival of their respective returns from Isle a la Crosse and the Saskatchewan departments. Of the six men whom we brought from England the most serviceable, John Hepburn, had accompanied Mr. Franklin, and only one other desired to prosecute the journey with us. Mr. Franklin had made arrangements with Mr. Williams for the employment of the remaining five men in bringing to Cumberland House the ammunition, tobacco, etc., left at York Fort, which stores were if possible to be sent after us in the summer. On the 30th Dr. Richardson returned from Carlton House, and on the 31st the boats arrived belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company's Saskatchewan department. We obtained a canoe and two more volunteers. On the 1st of June the Saskatchewan, swelled by the melting of the snow near the Rocky Mountains, rose twelve feet and the current of the little rivers bounding Pine Island ran back into the lake, which it filled with mud.

On the 5th the North-West Company's people arrived and Mr. Connolly furnished us with a canoe and five Canadians. They were engaged to attend us till Mr. Franklin should think fit to discharge them and bound under the usual penalties in case of disobedience or other improper conduct. These poor people entertained such dread of a ship of war that they stipulated not to be embarked in Lieutenant Parry's vessels if we should find them on the coast, a condition with which they would gladly have dispensed had that desirable event taken place. As we required a Canadian foreman and steersman for the other canoe we were compelled to wait for the appearance of the Isle a la Crosse canoes under Mr. Clark.

On the 8th Mr. Williams embarked for York Fort. He gave us a circular letter addressed to the chiefs of the Hudson's Bay Company's posts directing them to afford us all possible assistance on our route, and he promised to exert every endeavour to forward the Esquimaux interpreter, upon whom the success of our journey so much depended. He was accompanied by eight boats. With him we sent our collections of plants, minerals, charts, and drawings to be transmitted to England by the Hudson's Bay ships. After this period our detention, though short, cost us more vexation than the whole time we had passed at Cumberland House because every hour of the short summer was invaluable to us. On the 11th Mr. Clark arrived and completed our crews. He brought letters from Mr. Franklin dated March 28th at Fort Chipewyan where he was engaged procuring hunters and interpreters. A heavy storm of wind and rain from the north-east again delayed us till the morning of the 13th. The account we had received at York Factory of the numerous stores at Cumberland House proved to be very erroneous. The most material stores we received did not amount in addition to our own to more than two barrels of powder, a keg of spirits, and two pieces of tobacco, with pemmican for sixteen days.

The crew of Dr. Richardson's canoe consisted of three Englishmen and three Canadians and the other carried five Canadians; both were deeply laden and the waves ran high on the lake. No person in our party being well acquainted with the rivers to the northward, Mr. Connolly gave us a pilot on condition that we should exchange him when we met with the Athabasca brigade of canoes. At four A.M. we embarked.

We soon found that birchen-bark canoes were not calculated to brave rough weather on a large lake, for we were compelled to land on the opposite border to free them from the water which had already saturated their cargoes. The wind became more moderate and we were enabled, after traversing a chain of smaller lakes, to enter the mouth of the Sturgeon River at sunset, where we encamped.

The lading of the canoes is always if possible carried on shore at night and the canoes taken out of the water. The following evening we reached Beaver Lake and landed to repair some damages sustained by the canoes. A round stone will displace the lading of a canoe without doing any injury but a slight blow against a sharp corner penetrates the bark. For the purpose of repairing it, a small quantity of gum or pitch, bark and pine roots are embarked, and the business is so expeditiously performed that the speed of the canoe amply compensates for every delay. The Sturgeon River is justly called by the Canadians La Riviere Maligne from its numerous and dangerous rapids. Against the strength of a rapid it is impossible to effect any progress by paddling and the canoes are tracked or, if the bank will not admit of it, propelled with poles, in the management of which the Canadians show great dexterity. Their simultaneous motions were strongly contrasted with the awkward confusion of the inexperienced Englishmen, defended by the torrent, who sustained the blame of every accident which occurred.

At sunset we encamped on an island in Beaver Lake and, at four A.M. the next morning, passed the first portage in the Ridge River. Beaver Lake is twelve miles in length and six in breadth. The flat limestone country rises into bold rocks on its banks and at the mouth of the Ridge River the limestone discontinues. The lake is very deep and has already been noticed for the number and excellence of its fish. The Ridge River is rapid and shallow. We had emerged from the muddy channels through an alluvial soil, and the primitive rocks interrupted our way with frequent portages through the whole route to Isle a la Crosse Lake. At two P.M. we passed the mouth of the Hay River, running from the westward, and the ridge above its confluence takes the name of the Great River, which rises at the height of land called Frog Portage.

The thermometer was this day 100 degrees in the sun and the heat was extremely oppressive from our constant exposure to it. We crossed three portages in the Great River and encamped at the last; here we met the director of the North-West Company's affairs in the north, Mr. Stuart, on his way to Fort William in a light canoe. He had left the Athabasca Lake only thirteen days and brought letters from Mr. Franklin who desired that we would endeavour to collect stores of every kind at Isle a la Crosse and added a favourable account of the country to the northward of the Slave Lake.

On the 16th at three A.M. we continued our course, the river increasing to the breadth of half a mile with many rapids between the rocky islands. The banks were luxuriantly clothed with pines, poplars, and birch trees, of the largest size, but the different shades of green were undistinguishable at a distance and the glow of autumnal colours was wanting to render the variety beautiful.

Having crossed two portages at the different extremities of the Island Lake we ran under sail through two extensive sheets of water called the Heron and Pelican Lakes, the former of which is fifteen miles in length and the latter five; but its extent to the southward has not been explored. An intricate channel with four small portages conducted us to the Woody Lake. Its borders were indeed walls of pines, hiding the face of steep and high rocks; and we wandered in search of a landing-place till ten P.M., when we were forced to take shelter from the impending storm on a small island where we wedged ourselves between the trees. But though we secured the canoes we incurred a personal evil of much greater magnitude in the torments inflicted by the mosquitoes, a plague which had grown upon us since our departure from Cumberland House and which infested us during the whole summer; we found no relief from their attacks by exposing ourselves to the utmost violence of the wind and rain. Our last resource was to plunge ourselves in the water, and from this uncomfortable situation we gladly escaped at daylight, and hoisted our sails.

The Woody Lake is thirteen miles in length and a small grassy channel at its north-western extremity leads to the Frog Portage, the source of the waters descending by Beaver Lake to the Saskatchewan. The distance to the Missinippi or Churchill River is only three hundred and eighty yards and, as its course crosses the height nearly at rightangles to the direction of the Great River, it would be superfluous to compute the elevation at this place. The portage is in latitude 55 degrees 26 minutes 0 seconds North, and longitude 103 degrees 34 minutes 50 seconds West. Its name according to Sir Alexander Mackenzie is derived from the Crees having left suspended a stretched frog's skin in derision of the Northern Indian mode of dressing the beaver.

The part of the Missinippi in which we embarked we should have mistaken for a lake had it not been for the rapidity of the current against which we made our way. At four P.M. we passed a long portage occasioned by a ledge of rocks three hundred yards in length over which the river falls seven or eight feet. After crossing another portage we encamped.

On the 18th we had rain, wind, and thunder the whole day but this weather was much preferable to the heat we had borne hitherto. We passed three portages and at six P.M. encamped on the north bank. Below the third portage is the mouth of the Rapid River, flowing from a large lake to the southward, on which a post was formerly maintained by the North-West Company. Next morning we found ourselves involved in a confused mass of islands through the openings of which we could not discern the shore. The guide's knowledge of the river did not extend beyond the last portage, and our perplexity continued till we observed some foam floating on the water and took the direction from which it came. The noise of a heavy fall at the Mountain Portage reached our ears at the distance of four miles and we arrived there at eight A.M. The portage was a difficult ascent over a rocky island between which and the main shore were two cataracts and a third in sight above them, making another portage. We surprised a large brown bear which immediately retreated into the woods. To the northward of the second portage we again found the channels intricate but, the shores being sometimes visible, we ventured to proceed. The character of the country was new and more interesting than before. The mountainous and strong elevations receded from the bank and the woods crept through their openings to the valleys behind, the adventurous pine alone ascending their bases and braving storms unfelt below.

At noon we landed at the Otter Portage where the river ran with great velocity for half a mile among large stones. Having carried across the principal part of the cargo the people attempted to track the canoes along the edge of the rapid. With the first they succeeded but the other, in which were the foreman and steersman, was overset and swept away by the current. An account of this misfortune was speedily conveyed to the upper end of the portage and the men launched the remaining canoe into the rapid, though wholly unacquainted with the dangers of it. The descent was quickly accomplished and they perceived the bottom of the lost canoe above water in a little bay whither it had been whirled by the eddy. One man had reached the bank but no traces could be found of the foreman Louis Saint Jean. We saved the canoe out of which two guns and a case of preserved meats had been thrown into the rapid.* So early a disaster deeply affected the spirits of the Canadians, and their natural vivacity gave way to melancholy forebodings while they erected a wooden cross in the rocks near the spot where their companion perished.

(*Footnote. Mr. Hood himself was the first to leap into the canoe and incite the men to follow him and shoot the rapid to save the lives of their companions. Dr. Richardson's Journal.)

The loss of this man's services and the necessity of procuring a guide determined us to wait for the arrival of the North-West Company's people from Fort Chipewyan and we encamped accordingly. The canoe was much shattered but, as the gunwales were not broken, we easily repaired it. In the evening a North-West canoe arrived with two of the partners. They gave us an account of Mr. Franklin's proceedings and referred us to the brigade following them for a guide.

During the 20th it rained heavily and we passed the day in anxious suspense confined to our tents. A black bear came to the bank on the opposite side of the river and, on seeing us, glided behind the trees.

Late on the 21st Mr. Robertson of the Hudson's Bay Company arrived and furnished us with a guide, but desired that he might be exchanged when we met the northern canoes. We took advantage of the remainder of the day to cross the next portage which was three-fourths of a mile in length.

On the 22nd we crossed three small portages and encamped at the fourth. At one of them we passed some of the Hudson's Bay Company's canoes and our application to them was unsuccessful. We began to suspect that Isle a la Crosse was the nearest place at which we might hope for assistance. However on the morning of the 23rd, as we were about to embark, we encountered the last brigades of canoes belonging to both the Companies and obtained a guide and foreman from them. Thus completely equipped we entered the Black Bear Island Lake, the navigation of which requires a very experienced pilot. Its length is twenty-two miles and its breadth varies from three to five, yet it is so choked with islands that no channel is to be found through it exceeding a mile in breadth. At sunset we landed and encamped on an island, and at six A.M. on the 24th left the lake and crossed three portages into another which has probably several communications with the last, as that by which we passed is too narrow to convey the whole body of the Missinippi. At one of these portages called the Pin Portage is a rapid about ten yards in length with a descent of ten or twelve feet and beset with rocks. Light canoes sometimes venture down this fatal gulf to avoid the portage, unappalled by the warning crosses which overhang the brink, the mournful records of former failures.

The Hudson's Bay Company's people whom we passed on the 23rd going to the rock house with their furs were badly provided with food, of which we saw distressing proofs at every portage behind them. They had stripped the birch trees of their rind to procure the soft pulpy vessels in contact with the wood which are sweet but very insufficient to satisfy a craving appetite.

The lake to the westward of the Pin Portage is called Sandfly Lake; it is seven miles long and a wide channel connects it with the Serpent Lake, the extent of which to the southward we could not discern. There is nothing remarkable in this chain of lakes except their shapes, being rocky basins filled by the waters of the Missinippi, insulating the massy eminences and meandering with almost imperceptible current between them. From the Serpent to the Sandy Lake it is again confined in a narrow space by the approach of its winding banks, and on the 26th we were some hours employed in traversing a series of shallow rapids where it was necessary to lighten the canoes. Having missed the path through the woods we walked two miles in the water upon sharp stones, from which some of us were incessantly slipping into deep holes and floundering in vain for footing at the bottom, a scene highly diverting notwithstanding our fatigue. We were detained in Sandy Lake till one P.M. by a strong gale when, the wind becoming moderate, we crossed five miles to the mouth of the river and at four P.M. left the main branch of it and entered a little rivulet called the Grassy River, running through an extensive reedy swamp. It is the nest of innumerable ducks which rear their young among the long rushes in security from beasts of prey. At sunset we encamped on the banks of the main branch.

At three A.M. June 28th we embarked in a thick fog occasioned by a fall of the temperature of the air ten degrees below that of the water. Having crossed Knee Lake which is nine miles in length and a portage at its western extremity we entered Primeau Lake with a strong and favourable wind, by the aid of which we ran nineteen miles through it and encamped at the river's mouth. It is shaped like the barb of an arrow with the point towards the north and its greatest breadth is about four miles.

During the night a torrent of rain washed us from our beds accompanied with the loudest thunder I ever heard. This weather continued during the 29th and often compelled us to land and turn the canoes up to prevent them from filling. We passed one portage and the confluence of a river said to afford by other rivers beyond a height of land a shorter but more difficult route to the Athabasca Lake than that which is generally pursued.

On the 28th we crossed the last portage and at ten A.M. entered the Isle a la Crosse Lake. Its long succession of woody points, both banks stretching towards the south till their forms were lost in the haze of the horizon, was a grateful prospect to us after our bewildered and interrupted voyage in the Missinippi. The gale wafted us with unusual speed and as the lake increased in breadth the waves swelled to a dangerous height. A canoe running before the wind is very liable to burst asunder when on the top of a wave so that part of the bottom is out of the water, for there is nothing to support the weight of its heavy cargo but the bark and the slight gunwales attached to it.

On making known our exigencies to the gentlemen in charge of the Hudson's Bay and North-West Companies' forts they made up an assortment of stores amounting to five bales, for four of which we were indebted to Mr. McLeod of the North-West Company who shared with us the ammunition absolutely required for the support of his post, receiving in exchange an order for the same quantity upon the cargo which we expected to follow us from York Factory. We had heard from Mr. Stuart that Fort Chipewyan was too much impoverished to supply the wants of the Expedition and we found Isle a la Crosse in the same condition; which indeed we might have foreseen from the exhausted state of Cumberland House but could not have provided against. We never had heard before our departure from York that the posts in the interior only received annually the stores necessary for the consumption of a single year. It was fortunate for us that Mr. Franklin had desired ten bags of pemmican to be sent from the Saskatchewan across the plains to Isle a la Crosse for our use. This resource was untouched but we could not embark more than five pieces in our own canoes. However Mr. McLeod agreed to send a canoe after us to the Methye Portage with the pemmican, and we calculated that the diminution of our provision would there enable us to receive it.

The Beaver River enters this lake on the South-East side, and another river which has not been named on the South-West. Both these rivers are branches of the Missinippi as it is the only outlet from the lake. The banks appeared to be rocky and the beach in many places sandy but its waters are yellow and muddy. It produces a variety of fish among which its white-fish are esteemed the best in the country. The only birds visible at this season are common to every part of the Missinippi; gulls, ducks, pigeons, goatsuckers, and the raven; and geese and swans pay a momentary visit in passing to the north and returning.

There was little in the forts differing from the establishments that we had before seen. The ground on which they are erected is sandy and favourable to cultivation. Curiosity however was satisfied by the first experiment and utility alone has been unable to extend it. Isle a la Crosse is frequented by the Crees and the Chipewyans. It is not the dread of the Indians but of one another that has brought the rival Companies so close together at every trading post, each party seeking to prevent the other from engaging the affections of the natives and monopolising the trade. Whenever a settlement is made by the one the other immediately follows, without considering the eligibility of the place, for it may injure its opponent though it cannot benefit itself, and that advantage, which is the first object of all other commercial bodies, becomes but the second with the fur traders.

On the evening of the 30th we embarked and entered a wide channel to the northward of the forts and extending towards the north-west. It gradually decreased in breadth till it became a river which is the third fork of the Missinippi and, its current being almost insensible, we entered the Clear Lake at ten A.M. on the 1st of July. Of this lake, which is very large, no part is known except the south border, but its extent would lead us to conclude that its evaporation must be supplied by another river to the northward, especially as the small channel that communicates with Buffalo Lake is motionless. The existence of such a river is asserted by the Indians, and a shorter passage might be found by it across the height of land to Clear Water River than the portage from the Methye Lake.

In Buffalo Lake the wind was too strong for us to proceed and we therefore encamped upon a gravel beach thrown up by the waves. We embarked at three A.M. July 2nd and at four P.M. entered the mouth of the Methye River. The lake is thirty-four miles in length and fourteen in breadth. It is probably very deep for we saw no islands on this wide expanse except at the borders. On the south-west side were two forts belonging to the Companies and near them a solitary hill seven or eight hundred feet high. At eight P.M. we encamped in the Methye River at the confluence of the river Pembina. A route has been explored by it to the Red Willow River across the height of land, but the difficulties of it were so great that the ordinary route is preferred.

On the 3rd we passed through the Methye River and encamped on the borders of the Methye Lake. The soil from Isle a la Crosse to this place is sandy with some portion of clay and the trees numerous; but the Methye River is stony and so shallow that, to lighten the canoes, we made two portages of five and two miles. The paths were overflowed with cold spring water and barricaded by fallen trees; we should have been contented to immerse ourselves wholly had the puddle been sufficiently deep for the mosquitoes devoured every part that was exposed to them.

On the 4th we crossed the Methye Lake and landed at the portage on the north-west side in one of the sources of the Missinippi. The lake is seventeen miles in length with a large island in the middle. We proceeded to the north side of the portage with two men carrying a tent and some instruments, leaving the canoes and cargoes to be transported by daily journeys of two or three miles. The distance is fourteen statute miles and there are two small lakes about five miles from the north side. Several species of fish were found in them though they have no known communication with any other body of water, being situated on the elevation of the height. The road was a gentle ascent, miry from the late rainy weather and shaded by pines, poplars, birches, and cypresses, which terminated our view. On the north side we discovered through an opening in the trees that we were on a hill eight or nine hundred feet high and at the edge of a steep descent. We were prepared to expect an extensive prospect, but the magnificent scene before us was so superior to what the nature of the country had promised that it banished even our sense of suffering from the mosquitoes which hovered in clouds about our heads. Two parallel chains of hills extended towards the setting sun, their various projecting outlines exhibiting the several gradations of distance and the opposite bases closing at the horizon. On the nearest eminence the objects were clearly defined by their dark shadows; the yellow rays blended their softening hues with brilliant green on the next, and beyond it all distinction melted into gray and purple. In the long valley between, the smooth and colourless Clear Water River wound its spiral course, broken and shattered by encroaching woods. An exuberance of rich herbage covered the soil and lofty trees climbed the precipice at our feet, hiding its brink with their summits. Impatient as we were and blinded with pain we paid a tribute of admiration, which this beautiful landscape is capable of exciting unaided by the borrowed charms of a calm atmosphere, glowing with the vivid tints of evening.

We descended to the banks of the Clear Water River and, having encamped, the two men returned to assist their companions. We had sometimes before procured a little rest by closing the tent and burning wood or flashing gunpowder within, the smoke driving the mosquitoes into the crannies of the ground. But this remedy was now ineffectual though we employed it so perseveringly as to hazard suffocation: they swarmed under our blankets, goring us with their envenomed trunks and steeping our clothes in blood. We rose at daylight in a fever and our misery was unmitigated during our whole stay.

The mosquitoes of America resemble in shape those of Africa and Europe but differ essentially in size and other particulars. There are two distinct species, the largest of which is brown and the smallest black. Where they are bred cannot easily be determined for they are numerous in every soil. They make their first appearance in May and the cold destroys them in September; in July they are most voracious and, fortunately for the traders, the journeys from the trading posts to the factories are generally concluded at that period. The food of the mosquito is blood which it can extract by penetrating the hide of a buffalo; and if it is not disturbed it gorges itself so as to swell its body into a transparent globe. The wound does not swell like that of the African mosquito, but it is infinitely more painful; and when multiplied a hundredfold and continued for so many successive days it becomes an evil of such magnitude that cold, famine, and every other concomitant of an inhospitable climate must yield the pre-eminence to it. It chases the buffalo to the plains, irritating him to madness; and the reindeer to the seashore, from which they do not return till the scourge has ceased.

On the 6th the thermometer was 106 degrees in the sun and on the 7th 110 degrees. The mosquitoes sought the shade in the heat of the day. It was some satisfaction to us to see the havoc made among them by a large and beautiful species of dragonfly called the mosquito hawk, which wheeled through their retreats swallowing their prey without a momentary diminution of speed. But the temporary relief that we had hoped for was only an exchange of tormentors: our new assailant, the horsefly, or bulldog, ranged in the hottest glare of the sun and carried off a portion of flesh at each attack. Another noxious insect, the smallest but not the least formidable, was the sandfly known in Canada by the name of the brulot. To such annoyance all travellers must submit, and it would be unworthy to complain of that grievance in the pursuit of knowledge which is endured for the sake of profit. This detail of it has only been as an excuse for the scantiness of our observations on the most interesting part of the country through which we passed.

The north side of the Methye Portage is in latitude 56 degrees 41 minutes 40 seconds North and longitude 109 degrees 52 minutes 0 seconds West. It is of course one hundred and twenty-four miles from Isle a la Crosse and considered as a branch of the Missinippi, five hundred and ninety-two miles from the Frog Portage. The Clear Water River passing through the valley, described above, evidently rises not far to the eastward. The height, computed by the same mode as that of the Echiamamis, by allowing a foot for each mile of distance and six feet on an average for each fall and rapid, is two thousand four hundred and sixty-seven feet above the level of the sea, admitting it to be nine hundred feet above the Clear Water River. The country in a line between it and the mouth of Mackenzie's River is a continual descent, although to the eastward of that line there may be several heights between it and the Arctic Sea. To the eastward the lands descend to Hudson's Bay, and to the westward also, till the Athabasca River cuts through it, from whence it ascends to the Rocky Mountains. Daring was the spirit of enterprise that first led Commerce with her cumbrous train from the waters of Hudson's Bay to those of the Arctic Sea, across an obstacle to navigation so stupendous as this; and persevering has been the industry which drew riches from a source so remote.

HIS JOURNEY TO CHIPEWYAN.

On the 8th two men arrived and informed us that they had brought us our ten bags of pemmican from Isle a la Crosse, but that they were found to be rotten. Thus were we unexpectedly deprived of the most essential of our stores for we knew Fort Chipewyan to be destitute of provisions and that Mr. Franklin depended upon us for a supply, whereas enough did not remain for our own use. On the 9th the canoes and cargoes reached the north side of the portage. Our people had selected two bags of pemmican less mouldy than the rest which they left on the beach. Its decay was caused by some defect in the mode of mixing it.

On the 10th we embarked in the Clear Water River and proceeded down the current. The hills, the banks, and bed of the river were composed of fine yellow sand with some limestone rocks. The surface soil was alluvial. At eight A.M. we passed a portage on which the limestone rocks were singularly scattered through the woods, bearing the appearance of houses and turrets overgrown with moss. The earth emitted a hollow sound and the river was divided by rocks into narrow crooked channels, every object indicating that some convulsion had disturbed the general order of nature at this place. We had passed a portage above it and after two long portages below it we encamped. Near the last was a small stream so strongly impregnated with sulphur as to taint the air to a great distance around it. We saw two brown bears on the hills in the course of the day.

At daylight on the 11th we embarked. The hills continued on both sides of the mouth of the river, varying from eight hundred to one thousand feet in height. They declined to the banks in long green slopes diversified by woody mounds and copses. The pines were not here in thick impenetrable masses but perched aloft in single groups on the heights or shrouded by the livelier hues of the poplar and willow.

We passed the mouth of the Red Willow River on the south bank flowing through a deep ravine. It is the continuation of the route by the Pembina before mentioned. At noon we entered the majestic Athabasca or Elk River. Its junction with the Clear Water River is called the Forks. Its banks were inaccessible cliffs, apparently of clay and stones about two hundred feet high, and its windings in the south were encircled by high mountains. Its breadth exceeded half a mile and was swelled to a mile in many places by long muddy islands in the middle covered with trees. No more portages interrupted our course but a swift current hurried us towards the quarter in which our anticipated discoveries were to commence. The passing cliffs returned a loud confusion of echoes to the sprightly canoe song and the dashing paddles and the eagles, watching with half-closed eyes on the pine-tops, started from their airy rest and prepared their drowsy pinions for the flight.

About twenty miles from the Forks are some salt pits and plains, said to be very extensive. The height of the banks was reduced to twenty or thirty feet and the hills ranged themselves at an increased distance from the banks in the same variety as those of the Clear Water River. At sunset we encamped on a small sandy island but the next morning made a speedy retreat to the canoes, the water having nearly overflown our encampment. We passed two deserted settlements of the fur traders on opposite banks at a place called Pierre au Calumet. Beyond it the hills disappeared and the banks were no longer visible above the trees. The river carries away yearly large portions of soil which increases its breadth and diminishes its depth, rendering the water so muddy as to be scarcely drinkable. Whole forests of timber are drifted down the stream and choke up the channels between the islands at its mouth. We observed the traces of herds of buffaloes where they had crossed the river, the trees being trodden down and strewed as if by a whirlwind.

At four P.M. we left the main branch of the Athabasca, entering a small river called the Embarras. It is narrow and muddy with pines of an enormous size on its banks. Some of them are two hundred feet high and three or four feet in diameter. At nine P.M. we landed and encamped but, finding ourselves in a nest of mosquitoes, we continued our journey before daybreak; and at eight A.M. emerged into the Athabasca Lake. A strong wind agitated this sea of fresh water which however we crossed without any accident, and landed on the north side of it at Fort Chipewyan where we had the satisfaction of finding our companions in good health, and of experiencing that sympathy in our anxiety on the state of affairs, which was only to be expected from those who were to share our future fortunes.

CHAPTER 7.

DEPARTURE FROM CHIPEWYAN. DIFFICULTIES OF THE VARIOUS NAVIGATIONS OF THE RIVERS AND LAKES, AND OF THE PORTAGES. SLAVE LAKE AND FORT PROVIDENCE. SCARCITY OF PROVISIONS, AND DISCONTENT OF THE CANADIAN VOYAGERS. DIFFICULTIES WITH REGARD TO THE INDIAN GUIDES. REFUSAL TO PROCEED. VISIT OF OBSERVATION TO THE UPPER PART OF COPPER-MINE RIVER. RETURN TO THE WINTER QUARTERS OF FORT ENTERPRISE.

DEPARTURE FROM CHIPEWYAN.

July 18, 1820.

Early this morning the stores were distributed to the three canoes. Our stock of provision unfortunately did not amount to more than sufficient for one day's consumption exclusive of two barrels of flour, three cases of preserved meats, some chocolate, arrowroot, and portable soup, which we had brought from England and intended to reserve for our journey to the coast the next season. Seventy pounds of moose meat and a little barley were all that Mr. Smith was enabled to give us. It was gratifying however to perceive that this scarcity of food did not depress the spirits of our Canadian companions who cheerfully loaded their canoes and embarked in high glee after they had received the customary dram. At noon we bade farewell to our kind friend Mr. Smith. The crews commenced a lively paddling song on quitting the shore which was continued until we had lost sight of the houses. We soon reached the western boundary of the lakem and at two entered the Stony River, one of the discharges of the Athabasca Lake into the Slave Lake and, having a favouring current, passed swiftly along. This narrow stream is confined between low swampy banks which support willows, dwarf birch, and alder. At five we passed its conflux with the Peace River. The Slave River, formed by the union of these streams, is about three-quarters of a mile wide. We descended this magnificent river with much rapidity and, after passing through several narrow channels, formed by an assemblage of islands, crossed a spot where the waters had a violent whirling motion which, when the river is low, is said to subside into a dangerous rapid; on the present occasion no other inconvenience was felt than the inability of steering the canoes which were whirled about in every direction by the eddies until the current carried them beyond their influence. We encamped at seven on the swampy bank of the river but had scarcely pitched the tents before we were visited by a terrible thunderstorm; the rain fell in torrents and the violence of the wind caused the river to overflow its banks so that we were completely flooded. Swarms of mosquitoes succeeded the storm and their tormenting stings, superadded to other inconveniences, induced us to embark and, after taking a hasty supper, to pursue our voyage down the stream during the night.

At six on the following morning we passed the Reindeer Islands and at ten reached the entrance of the Dog River where we halted to set the fishing nets. These were examined in the evening but, to our mortification, we obtained only four small trout and were compelled to issue part of our preserved meats for supper. The latitude of the mouth of Dog River was observed 59 degrees 52 minutes 16 seconds North.

DIFFICULTIES OF THE VARIOUS NAVIGATIONS OF THE RIVERS AND LAKES, AND OF THE PORTAGES.

The nets were taken up at daylight but they furnished only a solitary pike. We lost no time in embarking and crossed the crooked channel of the Dog Rapid when two of the canoes came in such violent contact with each other that the sternmost had its bow broken off. We were fortunately near the shore or the disabled canoe would have sunk. The injury being repaired in two hours we again embarked and, having descended another rapid, arrived at the Cassette Portage of four hundred and sixty paces, over which the cargoes and canoes were carried in about twenty-six minutes. We next passed through a narrow channel full of rapids, crossed the Portage d'Embarras of seventy yards, and the portage of the Little Rock of three hundred yards, at which another accident happened to one of the canoes by the bowman slipping and letting it fall upon a rock and breaking it in two. Two hours were occupied in sewing the detached pieces together and covering the seam with pitch but, this being done, it was as effective as before. After leaving this place we soon came to the next portage of two hundred and seventy-three paces; and shortly afterwards to the Mountain Portage of one hundred and twenty, which is appropriately named as the path leads over the summit of a high hill. This elevated situation commands a very grand and picturesque view for some miles along the river which at this part is about a mile wide.

We next crossed a portage of one hundred and twenty yards; and then the Pelican Portage of eight hundred paces. Mr. Back took an accurate sketch of the interesting scenery which the river presents at this place. After descending six miles farther we came to the last portage on the route to Slave Lake which we crossed and encamped in its lower end. It is called The Portage of the Drowned and it received that name from a melancholy accident which took place many years ago. Two canoes arrived at the upper end of the portage in one of which there was an experienced guide. This man, judging from the height of the river, deemed it practicable to shoot the rapid and determined upon trying it. He accordingly placed himself in the bow of his canoe, having previously agreed that, if the passage was found easy, he should, on reaching the bottom of the rapid, fire a musket as a signal for the other canoe to follow. The rapid proved dangerous and called forth all the skill of the guide and the utmost exertion of his crew and they narrowly escaped destruction. Just as they were landing an unfortunate fellow, seizing the loaded fowling-piece, fired at a duck which rose at the instant. The guide, anticipating the consequences, ran with the utmost haste to the other end of the portage but he was too late: the other canoe had pushed off and he arrived only to witness the fate of his comrades. They got alarmed in the middle of the rapid, the canoe was upset, and every man perished.

The various rapids we passed this day are produced by an assemblage of islands and rocky ledges which obstruct the river and divide it into many narrow channels. Two of these channels are rendered still more difficult by accumulations of drift timber, a circumstance which has given a name to one of the portages. The rocks which compose the bed of the river and the numerous islands belong to the granite formation. The distance made today was thirteen miles.

July 21.

We embarked at four A.M. and pursued our course down the river. The rocks ceased at the last portage and below it the banks are composed of alluvial soil which is held together by the roots of trees and shrubs that crown their summits. The river is about a mile wide and the current is greatly diminished. At eight we landed at the mouth of the Salt River and pitched our tents, intending to remain there that and the next day for the purpose of fishing. After breakfast, which made another inroad on our preserved meats, we proceeded up the river in a light canoe to visit the salt springs, leaving a party behind to attend the nets. This river is about one hundred yards wide at its mouth. Its waters did not become brackish until we had ascended it seven or eight miles but, when we had passed several rivulets of fresh water which flowed in, the main stream became very salt, at the same time contracting its width to fifteen or twenty yards. At a distance of twenty-two miles, including the windings of the river, the plains commence. Having pitched the tent at this spot we set out to visit the principal springs and had walked about three miles when the mosquitoes compelled us to give up our project. We did not see the termination of the plains toward the east, but on the north and west they are bounded by an even ridge about six or seven hundred feet in height. Several salt springs issue from the foot of this ridge and spread their waters over the plain which consists of tenacious clay. During the summer much evaporation takes place and large heaps of salt are left behind crystallised in the form of cubes. Some beds of grayish compact gypsum were exposed on the sides of the hills.

The next morning after filling some casks with salt for our use during winter we embarked to return, and had descended the river a few miles when, turning round a point, we perceived a buffalo plunge into the river before us. Eager to secure so valuable a prize we instantly opened a fire upon him from four muskets and in a few minutes he fell, but not before he had received fourteen balls. The carcass was towed to the bank and the canoe speedily laden with meat. After this piece of good fortune we descended the stream merrily, our voyagers chanting their liveliest songs. On arrival at the mouth of the river we found that our nets had not produced more than enough to supply a scanty meal to the men whom we had left behind, but this was now of little importance as the acquisition of meat we had made would enable us to proceed without more delay to Slave Lake. The poisson inconnu mentioned by Mackenzie is found here. It is a species of the Genus Salmo, and is said by the Indians to ascend from the Arctic Sea but, being unable to pass the cascade of the Slave River, is not found higher than this place. In the evening a violent thunderstorm came on with heavy rain, thermometer 70 degrees.

At a very early hour on the following morning we embarked and continued to paddle against a very strong wind and high waves under the shelter of the bank of the rivers until two P.M. when, having arrived at a more exposed part of the stream, the canoes took in so much water that we were obliged to disembark on a small island. The river here is from one mile and a quarter to one mile and three-quarters wide. Its banks are of moderate height, sandy, and well wooded.

SLAVE LAKE AND FORT PROVIDENCE.

July 24.

We made more progress notwithstanding the continuance of the wind. The course of the river is very winding, making in one place a circuit of seven or eight miles round a peninsula which is joined to the west bank by a narrow isthmus. Near the foot of this elbow a long island occupies the centre of the river which it divides into two channels. The longitude was obtained near to it 113 degrees 25 minutes 36 seconds and variation 27 degrees 25 minutes 14 seconds North, and the latitude 60 degrees 54 minutes 52 seconds North, about four miles farther down. We passed the mouth of a broad channel leading to the north-east termed La Grande Riviere de Jean, one of the two large branches by which the river pours its waters into the Great Slave Lake; the flooded delta at the mouth of the river is intersected by several smaller channels through one of which, called the Channel of the Scaffold, we pursued our voyage on the following morning and by eight A.M. reached the establishment of the North-West Company on Moose-Deer Island. We found letters from Mr. Wentzel, dated Fort Providence, a station on the north side of the lake, which communicated to us that there was an Indian guide waiting for us at that post; but that the chief and the hunters who were to accompany the party had gone to a short distance to hunt, having become impatient at our delay.

Soon after landing I visited the Hudson's Bay post on the same island and engaged Pierre St. Germain, an interpreter for the Copper Indians. We regretted to find the posts of both the Companies extremely bare of provision but, as the gentlemen in charge had despatched men on the preceding evening to a band of Indians in search of meat and they promised to furnish us with whatever should be brought, it was deemed advisable to wait for their return as the smallest supply was now of importance to us. Advantage was taken of the delay to repair effectually the canoe which had been broken in the Dog Rapid. On the next evening the men arrived with the meat and enabled Mr. McLeod of the North-West Company to furnish us with four hundred pounds of dried provisions. Mr. McVicar of the Hudson's Bay Company also supplied one hundred and fifty pounds. This quantity we considered would be sufficient until we could join the hunters. We also obtained three fishing-nets, a gun, and a pair of pistols, which were all the stores these posts could furnish, although the gentlemen in charge were much disposed to assist us.

Moose-Deer Island is about a mile in diameter and rises towards the centre about three hundred feet above the lake. Its soil is in general sandy, in some parts swampy. The varieties of the northern berries grow abundantly on it. The North-West Company's fort is in latitude 61 degrees 11 minutes 8 seconds North, longitude 113 degrees 51 minutes 37 seconds West, being two hundred and sixty statute miles distant from Fort Chipewyan by the river course. The variation of the compass is 25 degrees 40 minutes 47 seconds East. The houses of the two Companies are small and have a bleak northern aspect. There are vast accumulations of driftwood on the shores of the lake, brought down by the river, which afford plenty of fuel. The inhabitants live principally on the fish, which the lake at certain seasons furnishes in great abundance; of these the white-fish, trout, and poisson inconnu are considered the best. They also procure moose, buffalo, and reindeer meat occasionally from their hunters; but these animals are generally found at the distance of several days' walk from the forts. The Indians who trade here are Chipewyans. Beavers, martens, foxes, and muskrats are caught in numbers in the vicinity of this great body of water. The mosquitoes here were still a serious annoyance to us but less numerous than before. They were in some degree replaced by a small sandfly, whose bite is succeeded by a copious flow of blood and considerable swelling but is attended with incomparably less irritation than the puncture of the mosquito.

On the 27th of July we embarked at four A.M. and proceeded along the south shore of the lake through a narrow channel, formed by some islands, beyond the confluence of the principal branch of the Slave River; and as far as Stony Island, where we breakfasted. This island is merely a rock of gneiss that rises forty or fifty feet above the lake and is precipitous on the north side. As the day was fine and the lake smooth we ventured upon paddling across to the Reindeer Islands, which were distant about thirteen miles in a northern direction, instead of pursuing the usual track by keeping farther along the south shore which inclines to the eastward from this point. These islands are numerous and consist of granite, rising from one hundred to two hundred feet above the water. They are for the most part naked; but towards the centres of the larger ones there is a little soil and a few groves of pines. At seven in the evening we landed upon one of them and encamped. On the following morning we ran before a strong breeze and a heavy swell for some hours, but at length were obliged to seek shelter on a large island adjoining to Isle a la Cache of Mackenzie, where the following observations were obtained: latitude 61 degrees 50 minutes 18 seconds North, longitude 113 degrees 21 minutes 40 seconds West, and variation 31 degrees 2 minutes 06 seconds East.

The wind and swell having subsided in the afternoon we reembarked and steered towards the western point of the Big Island of Mackenzie and, when four miles distant from it, had forty-two fathoms soundings. Passing between this island and a promontory of the main shore, termed Big Cape, we entered into a deep bay which receives the waters from several rivers that come from the northward; and we immediately perceived a decrease in the temperature of the waters from 59 to 48 degrees. We coasted along the eastern side of the bay, its western shore being always visible, but the canoes were exposed to the hazard of being broken by the numerous sunken rocks which were scattered in our track. We encamped for the night on a rocky island and by eight A.M. on the following morning arrived at Fort Providence which is situated twenty-one miles from the entrance of the bay. The post is exclusively occupied by the North-West Company, the Hudson's Bay Company having no settlement to the northward of Great Slave Lake. We found Mr. Wentzel and our interpreter Jean Baptiste Adam here with one of the Indian guides: but the chief of the tribe and his hunters were encamped with their families some miles from the fort in a good situation for fishing. Our arrival was announced to him by a fire on the top of a hill, and before night a messenger came to communicate his intention of seeing us next morning. The customary present of tobacco and some other articles was immediately sent to him.

Mr. Wentzel prepared me for the first conference with the Indians by mentioning all the information they had already given to him. The duties allotted to this gentleman were the management of the Indians, the superintendence of the Canadian voyagers, the obtaining and the general distribution of the provision, and the issue of the other stores. These services he was well qualified to perform, having been accustomed to execute similar duties during a residence of upwards of twenty years in this country. We also deemed Mr. Wentzel to be a great acquisition to our party as a check on the interpreters, he being one of the few traders who speak the Chipewyan language.

As we were informed that external appearances made lasting impressions on the Indians we prepared for the interview by decorating ourselves in uniform and suspending a medal round each of our necks. Our tents had been previously pitched and over one of them a silken union flag was hoisted. Soon after noon on July 30th several Indian canoes were seen advancing in a regular line and, on their approach, the chief was discovered in the headmost which was paddled by two men. On landing at the fort the chief assumed a very grave aspect and walked up to Mr. Wentzel with a measured and dignified step, looking neither to the right nor to the left at the persons who had assembled on the beach to witness his debarkation, but preserving the same immovability of countenance until he reached the hall and was introduced to the officers. When he had smoked his pipe, drank a small portion of spirits and water himself, and issued a glass to each of his companions, who had seated themselves on the floor, he commenced his harangue by mentioning the circumstances that led to his agreeing to accompany the Expedition, an engagement which he was quite prepared to fulfil. He was rejoiced he said to see such great chiefs on his lands; his tribe were poor but they loved white men who had been their benefactors; and he hoped that our visit would be productive of much good to them. The report which preceded our arrival he said had caused much grief to him. It was at first rumoured that a great medicine chief accompanied us who was able to restore the dead to life; at this he rejoiced; the prospect of again seeing his departed relatives had enlivened his spirits, but his first communication with Mr. Wentzel had removed these vain hopes and he felt as if his friends had a second time been torn from him. He now wished to be informed exactly of the nature of our Expedition.

In reply to this speech, which I understood had been prepared for many days, I endeavoured to explain the objects of our mission in a manner best calculated to ensure his exertions in our service. With this view I told him that we were sent out by the greatest chief in the world who was the sovereign also of the trading companies in the country; that he was the friend of peace and had the interest of every nation at heart. Having learned that his children in the north were much in want of articles of merchandise, in consequence of the extreme length and difficulty of the present route, he had sent us to search for a passage by the sea which, if found, would enable large vessels to transport great quantities of goods more easily to their lands. That we had not come for the purpose of traffic but solely to make discoveries for their benefit as well as that of every other people. That we had been directed to inquire into the nature of all the productions of the countries we might pass through and particularly respecting their inhabitants. That we desired the assistance of the Indians in guiding us and providing us with food; finally that we were most positively enjoined by the great chief to recommend that hostilities should cease throughout this country, and especially between the Indians and the Esquimaux, whom he considered his children in common with other natives and, by way of enforcing the latter point more strongly, I assured him that a forfeiture of all the advantages which might be anticipated from the Expedition would be a certain consequence if any quarrel arose between his party and the Esquimaux. I also communicated to him that, owing to the distance we had travelled, we had now few more stores than was necessary for the use of our own party, a part of these, however, should be forthwith presented to him; on his return he and his party should be remunerated with cloth, ammunition, and tobacco, and some useful iron materials, besides having their debts to the North-West Company discharged.

The chief whose name is Akaitcho or Big-foot replied by a renewal of his assurances that he and his party would attend us to the end of our journey, and that they would do their utmost to provide us with the means of subsistence. He admitted that his tribe had made war upon the Esquimaux but said they were now desirous of peace and unanimous in their opinion as to the necessity of all who accompanied us abstaining from every act of enmity against that nation. He added however that the Esquimaux were very treacherous and therefore recommended that we should advance towards them with caution.

The communications which the chief and the guides then gave respecting the route to the Copper-Mine River and its course to the sea coincided in every material point with the statements which were made by Boileau and Black Meat at Chipewyan, but they differed in their descriptions of the coast. The information however, collected from both sources, was very vague and unsatisfactory. None of his tribe had been more than three days' march along the sea-coast to the eastward of the river's mouth.

As the water was unusually high this season the Indian guides recommended our going by a shorter route to the Copper-Mine River than that they had first proposed to Mr. Wentzel, and they assigned as a reason for the change that the reindeer would be sooner found upon this track. They then drew a chart of the proposed route on the floor with charcoal, exhibiting a chain of twenty-five small lakes extending towards the north, about one-half of them connected by a river which flows into Slave Lake near Fort Providence. One of the guides named Keskarrah drew the Copper-Mine River running through the Upper Lake in a westerly direction towards the Great Bear Lake and then northerly to the sea. The other guide drew the river in a straight line to the sea from the above-mentioned place but, after some dispute, admitted the correctness of the first delineation. The latter was elder brother to Akaitcho and he said that he had accompanied Mr. Hearne on his journey and, though very young at the time, still remembered many of the circumstances and particularly the massacre committed by the Indians on the Esquimaux.

They pointed out another lake to the southward of the river, about three days' journey distant from it, on which the chief proposed the next winter's establishment should be formed as the reindeer would pass there in the autumn and spring. Its waters contained fish and there was a sufficiency of wood for building as well as for the winter's consumption. These were important considerations and determined me in pursuing the route they now proposed. They could not inform us what time we should take in reaching the lake until they saw our manner of travelling in the large canoes, but they supposed we might be about twenty days, in which case I entertained the hope that, if we could then procure provision, we should have time to descend the Copper-Mine River for a considerable distance, if not to the sea itself, and return to the lake before the winter set in.

It may here be proper to mention that it had been my original plan to descend the Mackenzie's River and to cross the Great Bear Lake, from the eastern side of which, Boileau informed me, there is a communication with the Copper-Mine River by four small lakes and portages; but under our present circumstances this course could not be followed because it would remove us too far from the establishments at the Great Slave Lake to receive the supplies of ammunition and some other stores in the winter which were absolutely necessary for the prosecution of our journey, or to get the Esquimaux interpreter whom we expected. If I had not deemed these circumstances paramount I should have preferred the route by Bear Lake.

Akaitcho and the guides having communicated all the information they possessed on the different points to which our questions had been directed I placed my medal round the neck of the chief, and the officers presented theirs to an elder brother of his and the two guides, communicating to them that these marks of distinction were given as tokens of our friendship and as pledges of the sincerity of our professions. Being conferred in the presence of all the hunters their acquisition was highly gratifying to them, but they studiously avoided any great expression of joy because such an exposure would have been unbecoming the dignity which the senior Indians assume during a conference. They assured us however of their being duly sensible of these tokens of our regard and that they should be preserved during their lives with the utmost care. The chief evinced much penetration and intelligence during the whole of this conversation, which gave us a favourable opinion of his intellectual powers. He made many inquiries respecting the Discovery ships under the command of Captain Parry which had been mentioned to him, and asked why a passage had not been discovered long ago, if one existed. It may be stated that we gave a faithful explanation to all his inquiries, which policy would have prompted us to do if a love of truth had not; for whenever these northern nations detect a falsehood in the dealings of the traders they make it an unceasing subject of reproach, and their confidence is irrecoverably lost.

We presented to the chief, the two guides, and the seven hunters who had engaged to accompany us some cloth, blankets, tobacco, knives, daggers, besides other useful iron materials, and a gun to each; also a keg of very weak spirits and water which they kept until the evening as they had to try their guns before dark and make the necessary preparations for commencing the journey on the morrow. They however did not leave us so soon, as the chief was desirous of being present with his party at the dance which was given in the evening to our Canadian voyagers. They were highly entertained by the vivacity and agility displayed by our companions in their singing and dancing, and especially by their imitating the gestures of a Canadian who placed himself in the most ludicrous postures and, whenever this was done, the gravity of the chief gave way to violent bursts of laughter. In return for the gratification Akaitcho had enjoyed he desired his young men to exhibit the Dog-Rib Indian dance; and immediately they ranged themselves in a circle and, keeping their legs widely separated, began to jump simultaneously sideways; their bodies were bent, their hands placed on their hips, and they uttered forcibly the interjection tsa at each jump. Devoid as were their attitudes of grace and their music of harmony we were much amused by the novelty of the exhibition.

In the midst of this scene an untoward accident occurred which for a time interrupted our amusements. The tent, in which Dr. Richardson and I lodged having caught fire from some embers that had been placed in it to expel the mosquitoes, was entirely burnt. Hepburn, who was sleeping within it close to some powder, most providentially awoke in time to throw it clear of the flame and rescue the baggage before any material injury had been received. We dreaded the consequences of this disaster upon the fickle minds of the Indians and wished it not to be communicated to them. The chief however was soon informed of it by one of his people and expressed his desire that no future misfortune should be concealed from him. We found that he was most concerned to hear that the flag had been burnt, but we removed his anxiety on that point by the assurance that it could easily be repaired. We were advised by Mr. Wentzel to recommence the dancing after this event lest the Indians should imagine, by our putting a stop to it, that we considered the circumstance as an unfavourable commencement of our undertaking. We were however deeply impressed with a grateful sense of the Divine Providence in averting the threatened destruction of our stores, which would have been fatal to every prospect of proceeding forward this season.

August 1.

This morning the Indians set out, intending to wait for us at the mouth of the Yellow-Knife River. We remained behind to pack our stores in bales of eighty pounds each, an operation which could not be done in the presence of these Indians as they are in the habit of begging for everything they see. Our stores consisted of two barrels of gunpowder, one hundred and forty pounds of ball and small shot, four fowling-pieces, a few old trading guns, eight pistols, twenty-four Indian daggers, some packages of knives, chisels, nails, and fastenings for a boat; a few yards of cloth, some blankets, needles, looking-glasses, and beads, together with nine fishing-nets, having meshes of different sizes. Our provision was two casks of flour, two hundred dried reindeer tongues, some dried moose-meat, portable soup, and arrowroot, sufficient in the whole for ten days' consumption, besides two cases of chocolate, and two canisters of tea. We engaged another Canadian voyager at this place and the Expedition then consisted of twenty-eight persons, including the officers, and the wives of three of our voyagers, who were brought for the purpose of making shoes and clothes for the men at the winter establishment; there were also three children belonging to two of these women.*

(*Footnote. The following is the list of the officers and men who composed the Expedition on its departure from Fort Providence:

John Franklin, Lieutenant of the Royal Navy and Commander. John Richardson, M.D., Surgeon of the Royal Navy. Mr. George Back, of the Royal Navy, Admiralty Midshipman. Mr. Robert Hood, of the Royal Navy, Admiralty Midshipman. Mr. Frederick Wentzel, Clerk to the North-West Company. John Hepburn, English seaman.

Canadian voyagers:

Joseph Peltier, Matthew Pelonquin, dit Credit, Solomon Belanger, Joseph Benoit, Joseph Gagne, Pierre Dumas, Joseph Forcier, Ignace Perrault, Francois Samandre, Gabriel Beauparlant, Vincenza Fontano, Registe Vaillant, Jean Baptiste Parent, Jean Baptiste Belanger, Jean Baptiste Belleau, Emanuel Cournoyee, Michel Teroahaute, an Iroquois,

Interpreters:

Pierre St. Germain, Jean Baptiste Adam, Chipewyan Bois Brules.)

Our observations place Fort Providence in latitude 62 degrees 17 minutes 19 seconds North, longitude 114 degrees 9 minutes 28 seconds West; the variation of the compass is 33 degrees 35 minutes 55 seconds East and the dip of the needle 86 degrees 38 minutes 02 seconds. It is distant from Moose-Deer Island sixty-six geographic miles. This is the last establishment of the traders in this direction, but the North-West Company have two to the northward of it on the Mackenzie River. It has been erected for the convenience of the Copper and Dog-Rib Indians who generally bring such a quantity of reindeer meat that the residents are enabled, out of their superabundance, to send annually some provision to the fort at Moose-Deer Island. They also occasionally procure moose and buffalo meat, but these animals are not numerous on this side of the lake. Few furs are collected. Les poissons inconnus, trout, pike, carp, and white-fish are very plentiful, and on these the residents principally subsist. Their great supply of fish is procured in the latter part of September and the beginning of October, but there are a few taken daily in the nets during the winter. The surrounding country consists almost entirely of coarse-grained granite, frequently enclosing large masses of reddish felspar. These rocks form hills which attain an elevation of three hundred or four hundred feet about a mile behind the house; their surface is generally naked but in the valleys between them grow a few spruce, aspen, and birch trees, together with a variety of shrubs and berry-bearing plants.

On the afternoon of the 2nd of August we commenced our journey, having, in addition to our three canoes, a smaller one to convey the women; we were all in high spirits, being heartily glad that the time had at length arrived when our course was to be directed towards the Copper-Mine River and through a line of country which had not been previously visited by any European. We proceeded to the northward along the eastern side of a deep bay of the lake, passing through various channels formed by an assemblage of rocky islands; and at sunset encamped on a projecting point of the north main shore eight miles from Fort Providence. To the westward of this arm, or bay of the lake, there is another deep bay that receives the waters of a river which communicates with Great Marten Lake where the North-West Company had once a post established. The eastern shores of the Great Slave Lake are very imperfectly known: none of the traders have visited them and the Indians give such loose and unsatisfactory accounts that no estimation can be formed of its extent in that direction. These men say there is a communication from its eastern extremity by a chain of lakes with a shallow river which discharges its waters into the sea. This stream they call the Thloueetessy, and report it to be navigable for Indian canoes only. The forms of the south and western shores are better known from the survey of Sir Alexander Mackenzie and in consequence of the canoes having to pass and repass along these borders annually between Moose-Deer Island and Mackenzie's River. Our observations made the breadth of the lake between Stony Island and the north main shore sixty miles less than it is laid down in Arrowsmith's map; and there is also a considerable difference in the longitude of the eastern side of the bay, which we entered.

This lake, owing to its great depth, is seldom completely frozen over before the last week in November and the ice, which is generally seven feet thick, breaks up about the middle of June, three weeks later than that of the Slave River. The only known outlet to this vast body of water which receives so many streams on its north and south shores is the Mackenzie River.

August 3.

We embarked at three A.M. and proceeded to the entrance of the Yellow-Knife River of the traders, which is called by the natives Begholodessy or River of the Toothless Fish. We found Akaitcho and the hunters with their families encamped here. There were also several other Indians of his tribe who intended to accompany us some distance into the interior. This party was quickly in motion after our arrival and we were soon surrounded by a fleet of seventeen Indian canoes. In company with them we paddled up the river, which is one hundred and fifty yards wide, and in an hour came to a cascade of five feet where we were compelled to make a portage of one hundred and fifty-eight yards. We next crossed a dilatation of the river, about six miles in length, upon which the name of Lake Prosperous was bestowed. Its shores, though scantily supplied with wood, are very picturesque.

Akaitcho caused himself to be paddled by his slave, a young man of the Dog-Rib nation whom he had taken by force from his friends; when he thought himself however out of reach of our observation he laid aside a good deal of his state and assisted in the labour; and after a few days' further acquaintance with us he did not hesitate to paddle in our presence or even carry his canoe on the portages. Several of the canoes were managed by women who proved to be noisy companions, for they quarrelled frequently, and the weakest was generally profuse in her lamentations, which were not at all diminished when the husband attempted to settle the difference by a few blows from his paddle.

An observation near the centre of the lake gave 114 degrees 13 minutes 39 seconds West and 33 degrees 8 minutes 06 seconds East variation.

Leaving the lake we ascended a very strong rapid and arrived at a range of three steep cascades situated in the bend of the river. Here we made a portage of one thousand three hundred yards over a rocky hill which received the name of the Bowstring Portage from its shape. We found that the Indians had greatly the advantage of us in this operation; the men carried their small canoes, the women and children the clothes and provisions, and at the end of the portage they were ready to embark, whilst it was necessary for our people to return four times before they could transport the weighty cargo with which we were burdened. After passing through another expansion of the river and over the Steep Portage of one hundred and fifteen yards we encamped on a small rocky isle, just large enough to hold our party, and the Indians took possession of an adjoining rock. We were now thirty miles from Fort Providence.

As soon as the tents were pitched the officers and men were divided into watches for the night, a precaution intended to be taken throughout the journey, not merely to prevent our being surprised by strangers but also to show our companions that we were constantly on our guard. The chief, who suffered nothing to escape his observation, remarked that he should sleep without anxiety among the Esquimaux for he perceived no enemy could surprise us.

After supper we retired to rest but our sleep was soon interrupted by the Indians joining in loud lamentations over a sick child whom they supposed to be dying. Dr. Richardson however immediately went to the boy and administered some medicine which relieved his pain and put a stop to their mourning. The temperatures this day were at four A.M. 54 degrees, three P.M. 72 degrees, at seven P.M. 65 degrees.

On the 4th we crossed a small lake and passed in succession over the Blueberry Cascade and Double Fall Portages where the river falls over ridges of rocks that completely obstruct the passages for canoes. We came to three strong rapids beyond these barriers, which were surmounted by the aid of the poles and lines, and then to a bend of the river in which the cascades were so frequent that to avoid them we carried the canoes into a chain of small lakes. We entered them by a portage of nine hundred and fifty paces, and during the afternoon traversed three other grassy lakes and encamped on the banks of the river, at the end of the Yellow-Knife Portage, of three hundred and fifty paces. This day's work was very laborious to our men. Akaitcho however had directed his party to assist them in carrying their burdens on the portages, which they did cheerfully. This morning Mr. Back caught several fish with a fly, a method of fishing entirely new to the Indians, and they were not more delighted than astonished at his skill and success. The extremes of temperature today were 54 and 65 degrees.

SCARCITY OF PROVISIONS, AND DISCONTENT OF THE CANADIAN VOYAGERS.

On August 5th we continued the ascent of the river, which varied much in breadth, as did the current in rapidity. It flows between high rocky banks on which there is sufficient soil to support pines, birch, and poplars. Five portages were crossed, then the Rocky Lake, and we finished our labours at the end of the sixth portage. The issue of dried meat for breakfast this morning had exhausted all our stock, and no other provision remained but the portable soups and a few pounds of preserved meat. At the recommendation of Akaitcho the hunters were furnished with ammunition and desired to go forward as speedily as possible to the part where the reindeer were expected to be found, and to return to us with any provision they could procure. He also assured us that in our advance towards them we should come to some lakes abounding in fish. Many of the Indians, being likewise in distress for food, decided on separating from us and going on at a quicker pace than we could travel.

Akaitcho himself was always furnished with a portion at our meals as a token of regard which the traders have taught the chiefs to expect and which we willingly paid.

The next morning we crossed a small lake and a portage before we entered the river; shortly afterwards the canoes and cargoes were carried a mile along its banks to avoid three very strong rapids, and over another portage into a narrow lake; we encamped on an island in the middle of it to set the nets; but they only yielded a few fish and we had a very scanty supper as it was necessary to deal out our provision sparingly. The longitude 114 degrees 27 minutes 03 seconds West and variation 33 degrees 00 minutes 04 seconds East were observed.

We had the mortification of finding the nets entirely empty next morning, an untoward circumstance that discouraged our voyagers very much; and they complained of being unable to support the fatigue to which they were daily exposed on their present scanty fare. We had seen with regret that the portages were more frequent as we advanced to the northward and feared that their strength would fail if provision were not soon obtained. We embarked at six, proceeded to the head of the lake, and crossed a portage of two thousand five hundred paces leading over ridges of sandhills which nourished pines of a larger size than we had lately seen. This conducted us to Mossy Lake whence we regained the river after traversing another portage. The Birch and Poplar Portages next followed, and beyond these we came to a part where the river takes a great circuit and its course is interrupted by several heavy falls. The guide therefore advised us to quit it and proceed through a chain of nine lakes extending to the north-east which we did and encamped on Icy Portage where the nets were set. The bottom of the valley through which the track across this portage led was covered with ice four or five feet thick, the remains of a large iceberg which is annually formed there by the snow drifting into the valley and becoming consolidated into ice by the overflowing of some springs that are warm enough to resist the winter's cold. The latitude is 63 degrees 22 minutes 15 seconds North, longitude 114 degrees 15 minutes 30 seconds West.

We were alarmed in the night by our fire communicating to the dry moss which, spreading by the force of a strong wind, encircled the encampment and threatened destruction to our canoes and baggage. The watch immediately aroused all the men who quickly removed whatever could be injured to a distant part and afterwards succeeded in extinguishing the flame.

August 8.

During this day we crossed five portages, passing over a very bad road. The men were quite exhausted with fatigue by five P.M. when we were obliged to encamp on the borders of the fifth lake, in which the fishing-nets were set. We began this evening to issue some portable soup and arrowroot which our companions relished very much; but this food is too unsubstantial to support their vigour under their daily exhausting labour, and we could not furnish them with a sufficient quantity even of this to satisfy their desires. We commenced our labours on the next day in a very wet uncomfortable state as it had rained through the night until four A.M. The fifth grassy lake was crossed and four others, with their intervening portages, and we returned to the river by a portage of one thousand four hundred and fifteen paces. The width of the stream here is about one hundred yards, its banks are moderately high and scantily covered with wood. We afterwards twice carried the cargoes along its banks to avoid a very stony rapid and then crossed the first Carp Portage in longitude 114 degrees 2 minutes 01 seconds West, variation of the compass 32 degrees 30 minutes 40 seconds East, and encamped on the borders of Lower Carp Lake.

The chief having told us that this was a good lake for fishing we determined on halting for a day or two to recruit our men, of whom three were lame and several others had swelled legs. The chief himself went forward to look after the hunters and promised to make a fire as a signal if they had killed any reindeer. All the Indians had left us in the course of yesterday and today to seek these animals except the guide Keskarrah.

August 10.

The nets furnishing only four carp we embarked for the purpose of searching for a better spot and encamped again on the shores of the same lake. The spirits of the men were much revived by seeing some recent traces of reindeer at this place, which circumstance caused them to cherish the hope of soon getting a supply of meat from the hunters. They were also gratified by finding abundance of blueberries near the encampment, which made an agreeable and substantial addition to their otherwise scanty fare. We were teased by sandflies this evening although the thermometer did not rise above 45 degrees. The country through which we had travelled for some days consists principally of granite, intermixed in some spots with mica-slate, often passing into clay-slate. But the borders of Lower Carp Lake where the gneiss formation prevails are composed of hills having less altitude, fewer precipices, and more rounded summits. The valleys are less fertile, containing a gravelly soil and fewer trees, so that the country has throughout a more barren aspect.

August 11.

Having caught sufficient trout, white-fish, and carp yesterday and this morning to afford the party two hearty meals, and the men having recovered from their fatigue, we proceeded on our journey, crossed the Upper Carp Portage, and embarked on the lake of that name where we had the gratification of paddling for ten miles. We put up at its termination to fish by the advice of our guide and the following observations were then taken: longitude 113 degrees 46 minutes 35 seconds West, variation of the compass 36 degrees 45 minutes 30 seconds East, dip 87 degrees 11 minutes 48 seconds. At this place we first perceived the north end of our dipping-needle to pass the perpendicular line when the instrument was faced to the west.

We had scarcely quitted the encampment next day before an Indian met us with the agreeable communication that the hunters had made several fires which were certain indications of their having killed reindeer. This intelligence inspired our companions with fresh energy and they quickly traversed the next portage and paddled through the Reindeer Lake; at the north side of it we found the canoes of our hunters and learned from our guide that the Indians usually leave their canoes here as the water communication on their hunting grounds is bad. The Yellow-Knife River had now dwindled into an insignificant rivulet and we could not trace it beyond the next lake except as a mere brook. The latitude of its source 64 degrees 1 minute 30 seconds North, longitude 113 degrees 36 minutes 00 seconds West, and its length is one hundred and fifty-six statute miles. Though this river is of sufficient breadth and depth for navigating in canoes yet I conceive its course is too much interrupted by cascades and rapids for its ever being used as a channel for the conveyance of merchandise. Whilst the crews were employed in making a portage over the foot of Prospect Hill we ascended to the top of it and, as it is the highest ground in the neighbourhood, its summit, which is about five hundred feet above the water, commands an extensive view.

Akaitcho who was here with his family pointed out to us the smoke of the distant fires which the hunters had made. The prospect is agreeably diversified by an intermixture of hill and valley and the appearance of twelve lakes in different directions. On the borders of these lakes a few thin pine groves occur, but the country in general is destitute of almost every vegetable except a few berry-bearing shrubs and lichens, and has a very barren aspect. The hills are composed of gneiss but their acclivities are covered with a coarse gravelly soil. There are many large loose stones both on their sides and summits composed of the same materials as the solid rock.

We crossed another lake in the evening, encamped and set the nets. The chief made a large fire to announce our situation to the hunters.

DIFFICULTIES WITH REGARD TO THE INDIAN GUIDES. REFUSAL TO PROCEED.

August 13.

We caught twenty fish this morning but they were small and furnished but a scanty breakfast for the party. Whilst this meal was preparing our Canadian voyagers, who had been for some days past murmuring at their meagre diet and striving to get the whole of our little provision to consume at once, broke out into open discontent, and several of them threatened they would not proceed forward unless more food was given to them. This conduct was the more unpardonable as they saw we were rapidly approaching the fires of the hunters and that provision might soon be expected. I therefore felt the duty incumbent on me to address them in the strongest manner on the danger of insubordination and to assure them of my determination to inflict the heaviest punishment on any that should persist in their refusal to go on, or in any other way attempt to retard the Expedition. I considered this decisive step necessary, having learned from the gentlemen most intimately acquainted with the character of the Canadian voyagers that they invariably try how far they can impose upon every new master and that they will continue to be disobedient and intractable if they once gain any ascendancy over him. I must admit however that the present hardships of our companions were of a kind which few could support without murmuring, and no one could witness without a sincere pity for their sufferings.

After this discussion we went forward until sunset. In the course of the day we crossed seven lakes and as many portages. Just as we had encamped we were delighted to see four of the hunters arrive with the flesh of two reindeer. This seasonable supply, though only sufficient for this evening's and the next day's consumption, instantly revived the spirits of our companions and they immediately forgot all their cares. As we did not after this period experience any deficiency of food during this journey they worked extremely well and never again reflected upon us as they had done before for rashly bringing them into an inhospitable country where the means of subsistence could not be procured.

Several blue fish resembling the grayling were caught in a stream which flows out of Hunter's Lake. It is remarkable for the largeness of the dorsal fin and the beauty of its colours.

August 14.

Having crossed the Hunter's Portage we entered the Lake of the same name in latitude 64 degrees 6 minutes 47 seconds North, longitude 113 degrees 25 minutes 00 seconds West; but soon quitted it by desire of the Indian guide and diverged more to the eastward that we might get into the line upon which our hunters had gone. This was the only consideration that could have induced us to remove to a chain of small lakes connected by long portages. We crossed three of these and then were obliged to encamp to rest the men. The country is bare of wood except a few dwarf birch bushes which grow near the borders of the lakes, and here and there a few stunted pines, and our fuel principally consisted of the roots of decayed pines which we had some difficulty to collect in sufficient quantity for cooking. When this material is wanting the reindeer lichen and other mosses that grow in profusion on the gravelly acclivities of the hills are used as substitutes. Three more of the hunters arrived with meat this evening which supply came very opportunely as our nets were unproductive. At eight P.M. a faint Aurora Borealis appeared to the southward, the night was cold, the wind strong from North-West.

We were detained some time in the following morning before the fishing-nets, which had sunk in the night, could be recovered.

After starting we first crossed the Orkney Lake, then a portage which brought us to Sandy Lake and here we missed one of our barrels of powder which the steersman of the canoe then recollected had been left the day before. He and two other men were sent back to search for it in the small canoe. The rest of the party proceeded to the portage on the north side of the Grizzly-Bear Lake, where the hunters had made a deposit of meat, and there encamped to await their return which happened at nine P.M. with the powder. We perceived from the direction of this lake that considerable labour would have been spared if we had continued our course yesterday, instead of striking off at the guide's suggestion, as the bottom of this lake cannot be far separated from either Hunter's Lake or the one to the westward of it. The chief and all the Indians went off to hunt accompanied by Pierre St. Germain the interpreter. They returned at night bringing some meat and reported that they had put the carcasses of several reindeer en cache. These were sent for early next morning and, as the weather was unusually warm, the thermometer at noon being 77 degrees, we remained stationary all day that the women might prepare the meat for keeping by stripping the flesh from the bones and drying it in the sun over a slow fire. The hunters were again successful and by the evening we had collected the carcasses of seventeen deer. As this was a sufficient store to serve us until we arrived at Winter Lake the chief proposed that he and his hunters should proceed to that place and collect some provision against our arrival. He also requested that we would allow him to be absent ten days to provide his family with clothing as the skin of the reindeer is unfit for that purpose after the month of September. We could not refuse to grant such a reasonable request but caused St. Germain to accompany him that his absence might not exceed the appointed time. Previous to his departure the chief warned us to be constantly on our guard against the grizzly bears which he described as being numerous in this vicinity and very ferocious; one had been seen this day by an Indian, to which circumstance the lake owes its appellation. We afterwards learned that the only bear in this part of the country is the brown bear and that this by no means possesses the ferocity which the Indians, with their usual love of exaggeration, ascribe to it. The fierce grizzly bear which frequents the sources of the Missouri is not found on the barren grounds.

The shores of this lake and the neighbouring hills are principally composed of sand and gravel; they are much varied in their outline and present some picturesque scenery.

The following observations were taken here: latitude 64 degrees 15 minutes 17 seconds North, longitude 113 degrees 2 minutes 39 seconds West; variation of the compass 36 degrees 50 minutes 47 seconds East; and dip of the needle 87 degrees 20 minutes 35 seconds.

On August the 17th, having finished drying the meat which had been retarded by the heavy showers of rain that fell in the morning, we embarked at one P.M. and crossed two lakes and two portages. The last of these was two thousand and sixty-six paces long and very rugged so that the men were much fatigued. On the next day we received the flesh of four reindeer by the small canoe which had been sent for it and heard that the hunters had killed several more deer on our route. We saw many of these animals as we passed along; and our companions, delighted with the prospect of having food in abundance, now began to accompany their paddling with singing, which they had discontinued ever since our provisions became scarce. We passed from one small lake to another over four portages, then crossed a lake about six miles in diameter and encamped on its border where, finding pines, we enjoyed the luxury of a good fire, which we had not done for some days. At ten P.M. the Aurora Borealis appeared very brilliant in an arch across the zenith from north-west to south-east which afterwards gave place to a beautiful corona borealis.

August 19.

After crossing a portage of five hundred and ninety-five paces, a small lake and another portage of two thousand paces, which occupied the crews seven hours, we embarked on a small stream running towards the north-west which carried us to the lake where Akaitcho proposed that we should pass the winter. The officers ascended several of the loftiest hills in the course of the day, prompted by a natural anxiety to examine the spot which was to be their residence for many months. The prospect however was not then the most agreeable as the borders of the lake seemed to be scantily furnished with wood and that of a kind too small for the purposes of building.

We perceived the smoke of a distant fire which the Indians suppose had been made by some of the Dog-Ribbed tribe who occasionally visit this part of the country.

Embarking at seven next morning we paddled to the western extremity of the lake and there found a small river which flows out of it to the South-West. To avoid a strong rapid at its commencement we made a portage and then crossed to the north bank of the river where the Indians recommended that the winter establishment should be erected, and we soon found that the situation they had chosen possessed all the advantages we could desire. The trees were numerous and of a far greater size than we had supposed them to be in a distant view, some of the pines being thirty or forty feet high and two feet in diameter at the root. We determined on placing the house on the summit of the bank which commands a beautiful prospect of the surrounding country. The view in the front is bounded at the distance of three miles by round-backed hills; to the eastward and westward lie the Winter and Round-rock Lakes which are connected by the Winter River whose banks are well clothed with pines and ornamented with a profusion of mosses, lichens, and shrubs.