OF THE POLAR SEA. 213 
the addition of three persons would not be mate- 
rially felt in their large family at Chipewyan, we 
determined on proceeding thither, and fixed on 
the 22d for the day of our departure. 
Pierre au Calumet receives its name from the 
place where the stone is procured, of which many 
of the pipes used by the Canadians and Indians 
are made. It is aclayey limestone, impregnated 
with various shells. ‘The house is built on the 
summit of a steep bank, rising almost perpen- 
“dicular to the height of one hundred and eighty 
feet, and from it an extensive prospect is com- 
manded along this fine river, and over the exten- 
sive plains which stretch out several miles at the 
back of it—and are bounded by hills of consider- 
able height, which seem to be better furnished 
with wood than the neighbourhood of the fort, 
where the trees grow very scantily. There had 
been an establishment belonging to the Hudson’s 
Bay Company on the opposite bank of the river, 
but it was abandoned in December last, on 
account of the residents not being able to pro- 
cure provision, from their hunters having been 
disabled by the epidemic sickness, which has 
carried off one-third of the Indians in these parts. 
They belong to the Northern Crees, a name given 
them from their residing in the Athabasca de- 
partment. There are now but few families of 
