Weft,.five'miles, and Weft four miles and an half. There is then a fuc-
céflioniof fmall lakes, rapids,and falls, producing the Portage dès -Ecors,
-Portage rd^Gidet,-and Portage des. Morts, the' whole comprehending-a
.diftanceoffix miles; .to «-the lake o f, the latter names! On thedeft fide
is a point covered; with human, bonès, the relics of the fmall pox ; .which
circiimftance gave the Portage and the lake this melancholy denomination^
! Its courfe is South-Weft. fifteen miles, while its breadth does not’
.-exceed !three; miles; i From thenGe-.a rapid river leads to Portage de/
Hallièr, which is'followed by Lake de L ’lfle d ’Ours : ' ifiiis| however,vim-
properly called a lake, as it contains frequent impediments amongft its
iilands, from rapids. There is.a very dangerous.oae about the centre of
it, which is named the Rapid qui ne parle point, or that never fpeaksjr
from its. filent whirlpool-motion. In fome o f the whirlpools the
fuftion. is , fo powerful, that they are carefully avoided,; At fome«» distance
from the filent rapid, is a narrow, fixait, where the : Indians
have painted red figures on the face o f a rock, and where it was -their
cuftotii formerly to make an offering of fome of the articles which they
had with them, in their way to and from Churchill. /The* courfe in this
.lake,-which is very meandering, may be eftimated at thirty-eight miles,
and is terminated by the Portage du Canot Tourner, from the danger to
which;thofe are fubjeâ who venture to run this rapid, From'rthpSdd a
river of one mile and an half North-Weft courfe leads'to the Portage de
Bouleau, aqd in about half a mile to Portage des Epingles, fb cal led'from
the fharpnefs of its ftones. Then follows the Lake desSouris,thedirec-
tion acrofs which is amongft ifiands, North-Weft-by Weft fix miles. In
this tràvèrfe is an! ifland, which is remarkable-for a-verÿ largeftalie/m
the form of a bear, hi» which the -natives have painted the head and
fnout
finoukqfthat animal ; and here they alfo werd formerly accuftomed to
pffegfaçrifiçes. < This lake .is feparated only by a narrow fixait from the
Lake, duf Serpent, which runs ;North-North-Weft feyen miles, to a nar-
ro^-chtenef <that b q h f e t e i^ the fame name,
and. .running'the-fame courfe for eleven miles# when the rapid o f thé fame
ifenorainatipHÎis entetiedjonthe'Weft fide of,the lake. ; .»ft iSïtsorberemarked
fi^e, that ,-for, about; thfée.orfoui:-miles on‘ the’North-Weft fide of this
lake! there is, an high bank of clay »and fand,, clothed with cyprels'trees,
a* ciröumftance which.isjnot obferydbleon any lakes hitherto mention!iff
as th^y are hounded, particularly; o^n-the North; by black and grey rocks.
It may alfo be coöiidéred,a’s a moft extraordinary circumftance, that the
Chepewyans, .go Nórth-Weft; from hehpe to the barren grounds, which»
are their own country, without .the affiftànce ó f canoes’; as it is -well
known that>in ;etfery other part which has beeh deferibed* from Cumberland)
fide o f the direfition to-a
great extent : fo th^t a traveller could, not go at right angles with any
of the waters already- mentioned, without,meeting wbth others in every
eight ot, ten miles. This will alfo: be found to be very much the cafe
in proceeding to Portage la Loche. :
fFhe laft méntioned rapid is upwards ©f.théjeé milèslohgi North-Wefl-
by m eft;; there is, however* no carrying, as the line .and poles' are fuffi-
eient to drag and; fet the canoe againft the’-current. Lake Croche is
thenforoffed in a Wefteifly direction of fix miles, though its whole length
may/te/twice that cfift^ee; after which »it contracts to a river that
jruns Weftefly for ten miles, when it forms a bend, which is left to the
South