214 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 
these men, who, formerly, by their numbers and 
predatory habits, spread terror among the natives 
of this part of the country. 
There are springs of bituminous matter on 
several of tHe islands near to these houses: and ~ 
the stones on the river-bank are much impreg- 
nated with this useful substance. There is also 
another place remarkable for the production of a 
sulphureous salt, which is deposited on the sur- 
face of a round-backed hill about half a mile from 
the beach, and on the marshy ground underneath 
it. We visited these places at a subsequent 
period of the journey, and descriptions of them 
will appear in Dr. Richardson’s Mineralogical 
Notices. : 
The latitude of the North-West Company’s 
House is 57° 24°06" N., but this was the only 
observation we could obtain, owing to the atmo- 
sphere being cloudy during our stay. Mr, Stuart 
had an excellent thermometer, which indicated 
the lowest state of temperature to be 43° below 
zero. He told me 45° was the lowest temperature 
he had ever witnessed at the Athabasca ot Great 
Slave Lake, after many years’ residence. On 
the height of 43°; the atmosphere was sultty, 
sy ow fell constantly » and there was quite an ap- 
pearance of a change in the season, On the 
