OF THE POLAR SEA. 365 
supper, and retired to bed, and slept soundly 
though it snowed hard the whole night. 
The hills in this neighbourhood are higher than 
those about Fort Enterprise ; they stand, how- 
ever, in the same detached manner, without form- 
ing connected ranges; and the bottom of every 
valley is occupied, either by a small lake ora 
stony marsh. On the borders of such of these 
lakes as communicate with the Copper-Mine 
River, there are a few groves of spruce trees, 
generally growing on accumulations of sand, on 
the acclivities of the hills. 
We did not quit the encampment on the morn- 
ing of September 13th until nine o'clock, in con- 
sequence of a constant fall of snow; but at that 
hour we set out on our return to Fort Enterprise, 
and taking a route somewhat different from the. 
one by which we came, kept to the eastward of a 
chain of lakes. Soon after noon the weather be- 
came extremely disagreeable ; a cold northerly 
gale came on, attended by snow and sleet; and 
the temperature fell very soon from 43° to 34°. 
The waveys, alarmed at the sudden change, flew 
over our heads in great numbers to a milder 
climate. We walked as quickly as possible to 
get to a place that would furnish some fuel and 
shelter; but the fog occasioned us to make fre- 
quent halts, from the inability of our guide to 
