106 INDIAN INCONSISTENCY. 



By a set of observations made here, the 

 latitude was found to be 68° 4£' 35" N., the lon- 

 gitude bv chronometers was 111° 19' 52"*7 W., 

 and the variation by Kater's compass 45° 31/ E. 

 Thermometer at 3 p.m. 54°. 



August 17. — The nets having been set over 

 night produced eight white fish and a trout, 

 which were equally divided ; and at 4 a.m. we 

 got away, and paddled against a cold north-east 

 breeze. The main on one side, and a range of 

 islands on the other, screened us, however, from 

 its effects, so that by breakfast time we had 

 accomplished a satisfactory distance, having 

 passed on our way another small berg, and some 

 patches of snow, which still lingered in the 

 fissures and deep gullies of the hills. It is 

 always difficult to get at the real meaning of an 

 Indian, even on subjects with which he has been 

 to a certain extent acquainted all his life, and on 

 which one might reasonably expect something 

 like a straightforward answer. Not only the 

 others, but even the lad who had drawn the sketch, 

 now began to hint that the Teh-Ion was far away 

 to the south and east, and that the portages 

 between the intervening lakes were long and bad 

 for the transport of baggage, if not altogether 

 impracticable. The Indians, it was observed, 

 were never encumbered with any thing heavier 

 than their guns, and perhaps a small canoe, 



