﻿1848. RICHARDSON HILLS. 223 



Bell informed me that he had procured crystallised 

 alum from some beds in that quarter. The Mac- 

 kenzie is about one mile and a half wide in these 

 straits. The current sets at the rate of three miles 

 an hour, and we got soundings with eight fathoms 

 in mid-channel. By a mutual understanding be- 

 tween the Eskimos and Kutchin, the Red River, 

 which falls into the Narrows, is considered as the 

 boundary between the two nations. 



On emerging from the Narrows, we had a distant 

 view of the Richardson chain of hills, which skirts 

 the western branch of the Mackenzie, and a little 

 before noon reached Point Separation. Mr. Rae 

 observed for the latitude ; but the sun being ob- 

 scured by passing clouds, the observation would 

 have been doubtful, had it not corresponded exactly 

 with the position assigned to the spot in Sir John 

 Franklin's map of 67° 49' north latitude. The 

 variation of the compass by the sun's meridional 

 bearing was south 55° east, being five degrees more 

 than in 1826. 



In compliance with my instructions, a case of 

 pemican was buried at this place. We dug the pit 

 at the distance of ten feet from the best-grown tree 

 on the point, and placed in it, along with the 

 pemican, a bottle containing a memorandum of the 

 objects of the Expedition, and such information 

 respecting the Company's post as I judged would 



