OF THE POLAR SEA. 261 
At four in the morning of the 24th we con- 
tinued the journey, and crossed some creeks in 
the woods, and another large swamp. These 
Swamps are covered with water in summer, to 
the depth of several feet, which arises from the 
melted snow from the higher grounds. The 
tracts of foxes, wolves, wolverenes, and martens, 
were very numerous. The people, employed in 
carrying meat, set traps on their way out, and 
take possession of their captures at their return, 
for which they receive a sum from the Compents 
‘ proportioned to the value of the fur. 
_ In the evening we crossed the Goose Lake, 
which is a little longer than Swan Lake, and 
afterwards the River Sepanach, a branch of the 
Saskatchawan, forming an island extending thirty 
miles above, and forty below Cumberland House. 
We turned to the westward on the Root River, 
which enters the Sepanach, and halted on its 
banks, having made in direct distance not more 
than twenty miles since the 23rd. . 
We passed the Shoal Lake on the 25th, and 
then marched twelve miles through woods and 
swamps to a hunting tent of the Indians. It was 
situated in a grove of large poplars, and would 
have been no unpleasant residence if we could 
have avoided the smoke. A heavy gale from the 
westward, with snow, confined us for several 
