44 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 
the stream, and we were obliged to resume the 
fatiguing operation of tracking; sometimes under 
cliffs so steep that the men could scarcely find a 
footing, and not unfrequently over spots rendered 
so miry by the small streams that trickled from 
above, as to be almost impassable. In the course 
of the day we passed the scene of a very melan- 
choly accident. Some years ago, two families of 
Indians, induced by the flatness of a small beach, 
which lay betwixt the cliff and the river, chose it 
as the site of their encampment. They retired 
quietly to rest, not aware that the precipice, de- 
tached from the bank, and urged by an accumu- 
lation of water in the crevice behind, was tottering 
to its base. It fell during the night, and the whole 
party was buried under its ruins. 
The length of our voyage to-day was, ina 
direct line, sixteen miles and a quarter, ona 
S.S.W. course. We encamped soon after sunset, 
and the tent was scarcely pitched when it began 
to rain heavily, and continued to do so all night. 
Sixteen miles on the 11th, and five on the fol- 
lowing morning, brought us to the commencement 
of Hayes’ River, which is formed by the con- 
fluence of the Shamattawa and Steel Rivers: 
Our observations place this Spot in latitude 
06° 22 32’ N., longitude 93° 1’ 97” W. It is 
forty-eight miles and a half from York Factory, 
