36 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 
‘the interior of the country, which their intelli- 
‘gence and long residence so fully qualified them 
to give. 
I deemed it expedient to issue a memorandum 
to the officers of the Expedition, strictly pro- 
‘hibiting any interference whatever in the exist- 
ing quarrels, or any that might arise, between 
the two Companies ; and on presenting it to the 
‘principals of both the parties, they expressed 
their satisfaction at the step I had taken. 
_ The opinions of all the gentlemen were s0 
decidedly in favour of the route by Cumberland 
‘House, and through the chain of posts to the 
Great Slave Lake, ‘that I determined on pur- 
suing it, and immediately communicated my 
intention to the Governor, with a request that he 
‘would furnish me with the means of conveyance 
for the party as speedily as possible. 
It was suggested in my instructions, that we 
might probably procure a schooner at this place, 
to proceed north as far as Wager Bay ; but the 
‘completely out of repair ; independently of which, 
the route directly to the northward was rendered 
icable by the impossibility of procuring 
hunters and guides tas men te 
~ T found that as the Esquimaux inhabitants had 
tet Churchill a month previous to our arrival, 0 
