368 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 
only saw a small rivulet, which was too shal- 
low for the canoe, and also wide of the course; 
and as they perceived the crew would have to 
carry it over a rugged hilly track, they judiciously 
decided on leaving it, and proceeding forwards 
on foot. Having deposited the canoe among a 
few dwarf birch bushes, they. commenced their 
march, carrying the tents, blankets, cooking uten- 
sils, and a part of the dried meat. St. Germain, 
however, had previously delineated with charcoal, 
a man and a house on a piece of bark, which he 
placed over the canoe and the few things that 
were left, to point out to the Dog-Ribs that they 
belonged to white people. 
_ The party reached the shores of Point Lake, 
through which the Copper-Mine River runs, on 
the Ist of September. The next day was too 
stormy for them to march, but on the 3d, they 
proceeded along its shores to the westward, round 
a mountainous promontory, and perceiving the 
course of the lake extending to the W.N.W., 
they encamped near some pines, and then first 
enjoyed the luxury of a good fire, since their de- 
parture from us. The temperature of the water 
in the lake was 35°, and of the air 32°, but the 
latter fell to 20° in the course of that night. -As 
their principal object was to ascertain whether 
any arm of the lake branched nearer to Fort 
