134 JOURNEY HOME. May 



parties, other notes, with a rough chart of the best route, 

 were supplied well wrapped in oil cloths, which were to be 

 placed on a pole in conspicuous stations. 



(Signed) "J. Rae." 



Having by the preceding quotations brought 

 the narrative of the search made by the expedition 

 to a close, I now revert to the period at which Mr. 

 Bell and I left Fort Confidence. A party of men 

 preceded us by a week, taking with them the 

 baggage, which they were directed to carry on to 

 Fort Norman along with some pemican and stores 

 left at Fort Franklin. This was intended as a 

 precautionary measure to avoid the delay that 

 might be caused by Bear Lake River being late in 

 breaking up. 



On the 7th of May we took leave of Mr. Rae, 

 and left the fort. Bruce, Mitchell, Brodie, M'Leod, 

 and Mastegon accompanied us in our journey 

 over the ice, which was completed on the 12 th, 

 having occupied five days and a half. On the 

 northern shores of the lake, the snow had lost 

 little of its depth, and we had to clear it away to 

 the thickness of five feet in making our encamp- 

 ment on Cape M'Donald ; but on the southern 

 shores we found some exposed sandy spots of 

 ground bare, and pools of water forming at mid- 

 day. Mastegon shot the first goose of the season 

 on the 10th, a straggler that was tempted to cross 



