50 DEPARTURE FROM FORT ALEXANDER. 



per annum for the time you may be employed 

 on this expedition. 



" I am, Gentlemen, 

 " Your most obedient Servant, 



" Geo. Simpson." 



Flattering, as these arrangements were, and 

 in the hurry of our affairs decidedly the best 

 that could have been made, I felt nevertheless 

 that the time necessary to collect my party and 

 stores, and convey them into the interior against 

 the obstacles and difficulties of an unknown route, 

 would seriously obstruct, if it did not entirely 

 prevent, my getting to the Polar Sea this autumn. 

 Not that this would materially affect our ulterior 

 object, as I believe the most sanguine never 

 contemplated the idea of our being in a condition 

 to afford succour to Captain Ross and his much- 

 enduring party before the summer of 1834. Yet 

 for many reasons it was desirable that the situation 

 and nearest route to the river Thlew-ee-choh, 

 and thence to the sea, should be discovered, 

 if practicable, by the time the laden bateaux 

 should get to Slave Lake ; more especially as 

 it would tend to encourage the men, who, gene- 

 rally speaking, are always more or less nervous 

 on new ground. 



After the departure of Mr. and Mrs. Simpson, 

 I prepared to leave Fort Alexander — to the 



