86 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 
the drawings and the collections of natural his- 
tory, by the first opportunity to York Factory, 
for conveyance to England*. 
The houses of the two Companies, at this 
post are situated close to each other, at the up- 
per extremity of a narrow island, which sepa- 
rates Pine Island Lake from the Saskatchawan 
River, and are about two miles and three quar- 
ters distant from the latter, in a northern direc- 
tion. They are log-houses, built without much 
attention to comfort, surrounded by lofty stock- 
ades, and flanked with wooden bastions. The 
difficulty of conveying glass into the interior has 
precluded the use of that material in the construc- 
tion of the windows, and its place is poorly sup- 
plied by parchment, imperfectly made by the 
native women from the skin of the rein-deer. 
Should this post, however, continue to be the resi- 
dence of Governor Williams, it will be much 
improved in a few years, as he is devoting his, 
attention to that point. The land around Cum- 
berland House is low, but the soil, from having a 
considerable intermixture of limestone, is good, 
and capable of producing abundance of corn, and. 
* As Samuel Wilks, who had accompanied the Expedition f from. 
proved to be quite unequal to igue of the journey, 
I directed him to be discharged in the spring, and sent to England 
by the next ship. 
