He;tteriifituated' for .trade and fi&jng,as thepsopfe ’heteJmVe tec&urfe to
water for their fupport. *
-1*Titofimngtoe place which I inaikteiyhteadeqhateerSi fotleiglifefdars,
and from whence I took my. departure, .on both my=expeditions,,J. fiaaH
•give; feme aceotoi of It, with- the manner of eanryitagi ©n the t^ade .there,
to d other circuniftafiees conneflted with jtevi
0 ; Ibeilkded canoes: which, leave Take IaiPluimabbutthe & & o£ Attguft,
domdt here tilltoe latter efedoof Septerflbe^brlfche begmhllig of
G^obery wten a:neffieflary proportion of them is difpktehed upitfePeale
Jlivtr tertrade with the Beaver and Rocky*Moutitaim fodiansiJr Othecs
toe feat to theSkve River and Lake, or beyond them, asdtoaffic with
to e inhdbtoim a f that coQBtryi A ImaM; part o f dmm, i£ xmb 1®& ^t^p
Jotorofoto© Elk River, Eetum thitfaefc to ^ ^ n llte ia e aK ^ a iw in lfl^
reft of the people and merchandife remain here to carry on trade with
to e Chepewyans.
x Hergfhayl I toarised with maetyitoian: htodted<>ton>5Kithoutja^
provifion for their fuftenancefor whatever quantity might have been
obtained frdmthe" aatite&idulmgnthe fenuner, itl i:auld tipt be
ithaH fufficiont .for, the people * difpatched tor their different? pofts;and
even, if there were k cafual foperfluityput was abfobifelyneeeflary to
preferve M untobched,. for the/defotods o f , the . fpaSngjd- The whole, de-
-pendance, therefore, of toofe who remained, was on the laike, and Glhing
implements for the means of our. fupport. Th,e net&.are' fixty fathom
in length, When fet, and contain 6,fteett;me{hes of.fivi inches .in depth.
Thei manner of ufing them is as follows: A fmall ftone and wooden
buoy
buoy are fattened to. the fide-line oppofite to'each other, at. about the dif-
taffc^of-twdjfathoms : when ,the net is carefullyUhroyrn into'the waiter,
thetoodetotiks it -tai the. bottom, while the buoy keeps it at its .full ex-
tent, and it is feeured s in its fituation by a ftone at either end. The
nets ■ are'ivifited'reverp day; to d taken out every other day to be^cleaned
and dried. This ito v e ry ready operation when the waters sare not
frozen, but when toe'froft hasifet- in, dnd-the ice,has acquired its Jgreateft
thicknefepwhich is fometimes ns much as five feet, holes are cut in.it at
the difitoee of thirty-feet from each other, to the full length of the net;
One of-them is fe g e r than the reft, being generally about four feet fquare,
Md; iic¥all€d(:to e '‘lMbn’j: by means of them, and.poles of a propor-
' tionaBle length,.the • bets are- placed . in and■. drawn out-of the water.
Tife fefeihg o f ! hooks and lines^ts fodimple an .employment as to render
a dKfeHptioh dnnceeffary. ^ The white/fifti are the principal objea. of
purfoitY to e f lpawn in the-falTof; the year,|and, at. about the fetting
m:fof 'thb ' ha¥d'Troft,> crowd - in-.{hoals to .'the flaallow water, when as
many as poffible are taken; in order that a portion of them may be laid by
in the froft to provide againft the fcarcity of winter; as, daring that feafon,
the hlh oP evety» deferiptiohdeereafe in the lakes, i f they do not altogether
. difapp^ri'' toa^dnriHgdns period they are ftation-
•^,-'b^affume!’ to toaftivetoate I f thfere ftrouldfoetoy intervals of
warm wMathCf during;the fal;l, it is rteceftary to folpend the fifh by the
tail, though they are not fo good as thofe which are altogether preferved
by the froft. In this ftate they remain to thferbeginning o f April, when
they 'have been found as fweet as when they were caught.*
* This fiihety reguires„{he molt unremitting attention, as the voyaging Canadians are equally indolent,
extravagant,.;Sp improvident, "when' left to themleteeseand rival the favages -in a negt'eft o f
thenloEro.vis.
m Thus