200 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 
Mr. Back and me; our carioles were driven to 
his post, and we experienced the kindest recep- 
tion. These posts are frequented by only a few 
Indians, Crees, and Chipewyans. The country 
round is not sufficiently stocked with animals to 
afford support to many families, and the traders 
almost entirely subsist on fish caught in the au- 
tumn, prior to the lake being frozen. The water 
being shallow, the fish remove to a deeper part, 
as soon as the lake is covered with ice. The 
Aurora Borealis was brilliantly displayed on both 
the nights we remained here, but particularly on 
the 7th, when its appearances were most divetsi- 
fied, and the motion extremely rapid. Its corus- 
cations occasionally concealed from sight stars of 
the first magnitude in passing over them, at 
other times these were faintly discerned through 
them ; once I perceived a stream of light to illu- 
mine the under surface of some clouds as’ it 
passed along. There was no perceptible noise. 
Mr. Mac Murray gave a dance to his voya- 
gers and the half-breed women; this is a treat 
which they expect on the arrival of any stranger 
at the post. is ii 
- We were presented by this gentleman with 
the valuable skin of a black fox, which he had 
entrapped some days before our arrival; it 
was torwarded to England with other specimens. 
