OF THE POLAR SEA. 329 
Akaitcho caused himself to be paddled by his 
slave, a young man, of the Dog-Rib nation, whom 
he had taken by force from his friends ; when he 
thought himself, however, out of reach of our ob- 
servation, he laid aside a good deal of his state, 
and assisted in the labour ; and, after a few days’ 
further acquaintance with us, he did not hesitate 
to paddle in our presence, or even carry his 
canoe on the portages. Several of the canoes 
were managed by women, who proved to be 
noisy companions, for they quarrelled frequently, 
and the weakest was generally profuse in her 
lamentations, which were not at all diminished, 
‘when the husband attempted to settle the dif- 
ference by a few blows with his paddle. 
An observation, near the centre of the lake, ~ 
gave 114 13'39" W., and 33° 8’ 06" E. varia- 
timnacuse 
Leaving the lake, we ascended a very strong 
rapid, and arrived at a range of three steep cas- 
cades, situated in the bend of the river. Here 
we made a portage of one thousand three hundred 
yards over a rocky hill, which received the name of 
the Bowstring Portage, from its shape. We found 
that the Indians had greatly the advantage of us 
in this operation; the men carried their small 
canoes, the women and children the clothes and 
