OF THE POLAR SEA. :i9 



Lake ; both to inform myself of the grounds of 

 the unceremonious and negUgent manner in which 

 the Expedition had been treated, and to obtain 

 a sufficient supply of ammunition and other 

 stores, to enable it to leave its present situa- 

 tion, and proceed for the attainment of its ulti- 

 mate object. 



" Novemberd. — I despatched to Fort Enterprise 

 one of the men, with the letters and a hundred 

 musquet-balls, which Mr. Weeks lent me on the 

 condition that they should be returned the first 

 opportunity. An Indian and his wife accompanied 

 the messenger. Lieutenant Franklin was made 

 acquainted with the exact state of things ; and I 

 awaited with much impatience the freezing of the 

 lake. 



" November 16.— A band of Slave Indians came 

 to the fort with a few furs and some bears' grease. 

 Though we had not seen any of them, it appeared 

 that they had received information of our being 

 in the country, and knew the precise situation of 

 our house, which they would have visited . long 

 ago, but from the fear they had of being pillaged 

 by the Copper IncUans. I questioned the chief 

 about the Great Bear and Marten Lakes, their 

 distance from Fort Enterprise, ^c. ; but his an- 

 swers were so vague and unsatisfactory that they 

 were not worth attention ; his description of Bou- 



