a 
OF THE POLAR SEA. 341 
induced us to remove to a chain of small lakes 
connected by long portages. We crossed three 
of these, and then were obliged to encamp to rest 
the men. The country is bare of wood except a 
few dwarf birch bushes, which grow near the 
borders of the lakes, and here and there a few 
stunted pines; and our fuel principally consisted 
of the roots of decayed pines, which we had some 
difficulty to collect in sufficient quantity for cook- 
ing. When this material is wanting, the rein- 
deer lichen and other mosses that grow in profu- 
sion on the gravelly acclivities of the hills are 
used as substitutes. Three more of the hunters 
arrived with meat this evening, which supply 
came very opportunely as our nets were unpro- 
ductive. At eight P.M. a faint Aurora Borealis 
appeared to the southward, the night was cold, 
» the wind strong from N.W. 
» We were detained some time in the Slowing 
morning before the fishing-nets, ‘which had sunk 
in the night, could be recovered. 
After starting we first crossed the Orkney Lake, 
then a portage which brought us to Sandy Lake, 
and here we missed one of our barrels of powder, 
which the steersman of the canoe then recollect- 
ed had been left yesterday. He and two other 
men were sent back to search for it, in the small 
canoe. The rest of the party proceeded to the 
