412 Dr. King on the Fish River of the Volar Sea. 



lisk, which, having been broken in the centre after it was 

 finished, was left in the exact spot where it had been separated 

 from the rock. The depth of the quarry is so small, and the 

 entrance to it so narrow, that it was impossible for them to 

 turn the stone in order to remove it by that opening; it is 

 therefore evident that they must have lifted it out of the hol- 

 low in which it had been cut, as was the case with all the other 

 shafts previously hewn in the same quarry. Such instances 

 as these suffice to prove the wonderful mechanical knowledge 

 of the Egyptians ; and we may question whether, with the in- 

 genuity and science of the present day, our engineers are ca- 

 pable of raising weights with the same facility as that ancient 

 people." (Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians, by 

 Sir J. G. Wilkinson, F.R.S., vol. iii. p. 332.) *With the 

 latter opinion I cannot coincide ; 1 am confident that some of 

 our engineers could manage to construct a pyramid as large 

 as that of Cheops, with as large stones, in a tenth part of the 

 time, with a hundredth part of the number of workmen, if they 

 were not limited in its cost. 



Smith Sti'eet, Chelsea, September 24, 1844. 



LXXI. On the Fish River of the Polar Sea, 

 By Richard King, M.D."^ 



Tj^ROM the period when Hearne, under the guidance of the 

 Indian chief Motannabee, undertook his memorable 

 journey to the Polar Sea, we have been acquainted with the 

 source of the Thlewydezza, or Fish River. By this stream it 

 was proposed, in 1833, to reach the wreck of the Fury, in search 

 of Captain Sir John Ross and his party. In a short paper 

 read before the Royal Geographical Society, and published in 

 the third volume of its journal, the river is described, upon 

 the authority of the Indian Blackmeat, " as being well adapted 

 for the winter residence and support of an exploring party, 

 both on account of its woods and the game that resorts to 

 them ; that the access to it from Great Slave Lake is easy, the 

 water communication being interrupted by only three short 

 portages; that the debouche is into or opposite Regent's Inlet, 

 which points it out as well adapted for the starting-point of a 

 boat expedition in search of the crew of any vessel known to 

 have had the intention of visiting the wreck of the Fury." In 



* Communicated by the Author; having been read before the Section 

 of Geology and Physical Geography of the British Association, October 1, 

 1844, at the (second) meeting at York. On the subject of this paper see 

 also a former communication by the author, Phil. Mag, S. 3. vol. xx. 

 p. 488. 



