Weft of Churchill River. On the 13th of July (having left
Conge cathavoha Chaga on the ad, and travelling ftill to the
Weft of North) he reached the Copper-mine River; and was
not a little furprized to find it differ fo much from the de-
fcriptions given of it by the natives at the fo r t; for, inftead
of being likely to be navigable for a ihip, it is, at this part,
fcarcely navigable for an indian canoe ; three falls being in
fight, at one view, and being choaked up with fhoals and
ilony ridges.
Here Mr. Hearne began his furvey of the river. This he
continued till he arrived at its mouth, near which his
Northern Indians maffacred twenty-one Efquimaux, whom
they furprized in their tents. We fhall give Mr. Hearne’s
account of his arrival at the fea, in his own words. “ After
Ij the Indians had plundered the tents of the. Efquimaux o f
H all the copper, See. they were then again ready to affift
“ me in making an end to the furvey; the fea then in fight
“ from the North Weft by Weft to the North Eaft, diftant
“ about eight miles. It was then about five in the morning of
“ the 17th, when I again proceeded to furvey the river to
“ the mouth, ftill found, in every refpetft, no ways likely,
“ or a poflibility of being made navigable, being full of
“ fhoals and falls ; and, at the entrance, the river emptying
" itfelf over a dry flat of the fhore. For the tide was then
“ out, and feemed, by the edges of the ice, to flow about
“ twelve or fourteen feet, which will only reach a little
“ within the river’s mouth. That being the cafe, the wa-
“ ter in the river had not the leaft brackifh tafte. But I am
| fure o f its being the fea, or forae part thereof, by the
“ quantity of whale-bone and feal ikins the Efquimaux had
“ at their tents; as alfo the number of feals which I faw
‘ ‘ upon the ice.. The fea, at the river’s mouth, was full
3 ; t 0f
“ of iflands and fhoals, as far as I could fee, by the affift-
ance of a poeket telefcope; and the ice was not yet broken
“ up, only thawed away about three quarters of a mile
“ from the fhore, and a little way round the iflands and
fhoals.
“ By the time I had completed this furvey, it was about
“ one in the morning o f the 18th; but in thefe high la-
“ titudes, and this time of the year, the fun is always a
| g°od height above the horizon. It then came on a thick
‘ drizzling rain, with a thick fog ; and, as finding the river
“ and fea, in every refpetft, not likely to be of any utility,
“ I did not think it worth while to wait for fair weather, to
** determine the latitude exadtly by an obfervation. But,' by
“ the extraordinary care I took in obferving the courfes and
c‘ diftances, walked from Congecathawhachaaga, where I had
“ two good obfervations, the latitude may be depended on,
“ within twenty miles at fartheft.”
From the map which Mr. Hearne conftrudted of the
country through which he pafled, in this Angular journey,
and which we have been permitted to copy upon our general
chart, it appears that the mouth o f the copper-mine
river lies in the latitude 72°, and above 25* Weft longitude
•from the fort, from whence he took his departure *.
The confequences reful ting .from this extenfive difcovery,
aTe obvious. We now fee that the continent o f North America
ftretches from Hudfon’s Bay fo far to the North Weft,
Hearne’ s journey, back from the copper-mine river, to Fort Prince o f Wales*.
nearavearanHf0’ 1 7^ ' Fr0” his ftrft fe«ing out till his return, he had employed,
near a year and feyen months. The unparalleled hardfhips he fuiFered, and the elTen- fell sffllmet a *St SS8 * 332 Z he ist; in 1782 ■ and laft 9 Wales, where he was taken prifoner by the French. ,
*n 17.82.; and laft fummer returned to his ftation, . , ' ■ ■
V o l . I „ ,
& that