C H A R T E R VII.
Voyage continued. StppeSlthe integrity *qf theinterpreter1. Stars vifble.
Springs ofmineral water, and lumps o f iron ore. Arrive a l the river of,
the Bear Lake. Coal mine Hra ftate o f combtiflion. Water o f the rtitim
diminiflied. Continue to fee Indian ehtompmeidsicemd Wdgefhg &c^
Hunting excurjums. A canoe found on the 'edgeiijfia. wood. Attempt to
afcend a mountain. Account»ofthepdffageto it. See Ufmo f i h e
natives. K ill a leaver andfome hares. ■ Defgn i f the EngEfhf chief.
K ill a wolf. Change able fa te o f the weather. ■ > Recover ■ the Pemmicdn$■ -
which had been hidden indn i f and. Nativesfly at our~approach. Meet j
with dogs. Altercation with the Englijh chief. AccounPoflihe articles
.lefibythefugtiiiresl Shoals o f the river' covered with faline matter.
: Encamp at the mouth o f the tftier- o f1 the mountain. The ground rmifife
on eachjideof it. Continue to fee encampments o f the nativesS-^Various
kinds o f berries. Killgeefe, fwans, &c. &c. &c. ^ Corroding qualitfof
the water. Weather changeable. fReach tke -entrarice o f the'Slave Lake.
Dangers encountered on entering it. Caught pike and trout. Met M. Le
Roux on the lake. Further circurnflances till'- return to Fort Chepe-
wyan. Gmclvfion o f the voyage.
Saturday >. ' W e embarked at three this morning, the weather being clear and
cold, with the wind at South-Eaft. A t three in the afternoon we tra-
verfed and landed to take the canoe in tow : here was an encampment
o f
n o r t h -w e s t c o n t in e n t o e A m e r i c a . 95
df the tfarives, which Wd had reafod'td iùppofe theT 'had quitted the
P ë i g M p f r Atfové We £tefoei¥eda. family, cdfafiftrhg'df a man, two
women;'arid as many ‘èhildf-ërij Rationed by the fide of thé water, whom
We had -not - féèh before.'-’They iéfö-rfnéd tó, that they had But few fifii,
and tMt 'ïïófte o f ’theif friehds Wétë?'=®l8thiè^ neighbourhood, é^fcept thé
ihtóbimhtsöf Artëlodge on the diSer* ödé d f the driver; and a man who
belonged to them, and Who was nowbccupied in huh ting. I now found
ray interpreter véfyuftwilling td afkfudhqüèftiOrisarsWérë diélated to him;
fröHflf ‘ ÎÉhdiiE ^ ^ en îfifeftt, as Tîmâgine’d, that I might obtain fuch intelfo
gened ks* wbtrld’prevent* him • from feeing- Athabafca* this fcafdn. We
kR him whh the ÏhdiariTand pitched ódf -fonts at thfo fame place where
wdhkdTafiedthe night on flfo fifth fo# laft month. The EngHfh chief
chlmdaioir^^tfi^dielndikn to'óufïfifo*i antftbe latter informed us that
the native Who' Wfcnt down part o f the‘ Vlverwith iri had paffed there,,
and that we fhould meet with three lodges of his tribe above the river o f
the Bear ' Lake. O f the rivet* to the Weftward he kirew nothing But
fröÄithe rèEdon of others. ' thh* firfFitigl&t fthce ouf departure
from Athabafca, when it whs* falficiently dark, to reader the1 fiats
'■ We let offat three this morning With thë t Owing-Tine.. I Walked with Sunday»,
my Indians, éis' they went fafter than the canoe,- and particularly as1 I
Aifpefted that they wanted t'o arrive at the huts of the natives before
me. In our way, I obferved feveral'finall fprfngs of mineral water
running from the' foot of the mountain, and along the beach I faw feveral
lumps of iron Ore. When we came to the river of the Bear’ Lake, I ordered
one of the young Indians to wait for my canoe, and I took my
place