beyond Slave Lake, he should be entitled to the same advantages as the others.* All was now complete; and, after writing despatches for His Majesty's Government and the Arctic Committee, letters, &c., I took leave of my worthy host Mr. Ross, and at 2 a. M., June 28th, left Norway House. The men engaged for the expedition were the following: James McKay George Sinclair Thomas Matthews William Matthews John Ross William Malley David Williamson William Rowland Thomas Anderson Pierre Kanaquassè. Thomas Hassel Steersmen. Carpenters. Artillerymen. Fishermen. Engaged afterwards. Interpreter. Also the following, who were subsequently discharged: Antoine De Charloit. La Charité. Olivier Seguin. Pierre Ateasta. Two more Iroquois. 57 CHAP. II. Commencement of the Expedition. — Interview with Mr. Charles.-Wind-bound by a Land Gale.-A Receipt for the Cure of "Blue Devils."-Description of a Voyageur's Tent. A Land Storm. The Grand Rapid. — Advance of Cultivation. · Arrival at Cumberland House. ·Departure of the Bateaux under Mr. King. — Embark in a Canoe. -Working of the Boats in the Rapids. -Isle à la Crosse - Buffalo Lake. — A Squall. — A Skunk.-Portage la Loche.-Effect of the Scenery. — Interview with Mr. Stuart and Mr. A. McLeod. — The latter volunteers to accompany the Expedition. — Arrive at Fort Chippewyan.-Information as to the supposed Route by the Fond du Lac.-Journey resumed.-Salt River.- Sketch of a Party of Indians. - Description of the Salt Springs. - Indian Encampment. Information of the Natives as to the Rivers Thlew-ee-choh and Těh-lon. Arrival at Fort Resolu tion. JUNE 28th.- This was a happy day for me; and as the canoe pushed off from the bank, my heart swelled with hope and joy. Now, for the first time, I saw myself in a condition to verify the kind anticipations of my friends. The preliminary difficulties had been overcome: I was fairly on the way to the accomplishment of the benevolent errand on which I had been commissioned; and the contemplation of an object so worthy of all exertion, in which I thought myself at length free to indulge, raised my spirits to a more than ordinary pitch of excitement. We paddled along, with little respite, until 5 P. M., when a small speck was seen under the steep sandy cliffs round Mossy Point, on the northern boundary of Lake Winnipeg. It was coming towards us, and was at first taken for an Indian canoe; but as we approached, I had the satisfaction to find that it was the Company's light canoe from the Athabasca, with Messrs. Smith and Charles, two gentlemen whom I had long wished to see. From the latter I now learnt that he had made every endeavour to obtain, by inquiries from the Indians, a tolerably correct notion of the situation of the river Thlew-ee-choh; the result of which was an opinion that it ran somewhere to the north-east of Great Slave Lake, in a position not far from that which had been speculatively assigned to it by my friend Dr. Richardson and myself. Mr. Charles had further been informed by an Indian chief, called the "Grand Jeune Homme," whose hunting grounds were in the neighbourhood of Great Slave Lake, that the Thlew-ee-choh was so full of rapids as to make it doubtful if boats, or indeed large canoes, could descend it; but that, by pursuing a different course to a large river, called Těh-lon, such difficulties would be avoid ed; whilst the distance between the mouths of the two rivers was so trifling, that the smoke of a fire made at one was distinctly visible at the other. The chief had drawn a rough outline of the track, some part of which I recognised as being on the borders of Slave Lake; but the directions assigned to the rivers could not be explained by either of the gentlemen, nor was I able to bring myself to any satisfactory conclusion about them. The waters, however, were described as abounding in fish, and the country in animals; and, what was not less gratifying, the chief and some others were willing and desirous to accompany me. Mr. Charles was the officer in charge of the Athabasca district; and having resided at Chippewyan Fort, he was well qualified to judge of the accuracy of an opinion expressed by Mr. A. Stewart, a gentleman whom I had seen at Montreal, that a practicable route might be found from the bottom or eastern extremity of that lake. He disclaimed, however, any knowledge of such a route, though he thought it desirable that I should ascertain the fact. He, as well as Mr. McKenzie, at Isle à la Crosse, had provision for us, if required; and after some further arrangements respecting boats at the north end of Portage la Loche, and the procuring of dogs along the route, in all of which he cheerfully met my wishes, we separated, both for the sea, though in directions very different. The evening was calm and clear, and, if the strength of the men had been equal to my impatience, we should have passed the night on the water; but they had been nearly eighteen hours labouring at the paddles, and I could not refuse them a little rest at 8h 40m P.M., therefore, we encamped on the beach, and were instantly beset by swarms of mosquitoes. The appearance of the cliffs or steep banks, from Mossy to New Limestone Point, is somewhat remarkable: they are composed of clay, with a superstratum of vegetable substances about six feet thick; the layers of which appear to be horizontally foliated, like the leaves of an outspread book. In colour they vary from a blackish brown to a light ochre, and they rest entirely on a substratum of calcareous sand, with small fragments of waterworn limestone, on which the lake is constantly encroaching, as may be distinctly seen by the numberless broken stems of trees, whose roots are yet green in the soil. We started at three o'clock on the following morning, and were soon relieved from the fatigue of the paddle by a favourable light breeze. To go on shore and trim a mast was the work of ten minutes; but as, according to the old adage, “it never rains but it pours," so our light breeze was |