210 Transactions of the Canadian Institute. [vol. ix 



*"That he has heard the natives talk of a sea to the westward, which, 

 by their accounts, is not far distant; and of a copper mine, which lay on 

 the side of a Strait which takes them five days in crossing; that they 

 describe the water of this strait to be very deep, and that they could 

 not reach the Bottom with two deer-skins, cut into thongs; and if a sloop 

 could be brought along-side this copper mine, they say they could fill 

 it in a little time. And, by their account, this strait has a communi- 

 cation both with the bay and the south Sea. 



"The witness could not learnatwhat distance this was from the fac- 

 tory, nor did he inquire which way the tide sat; but the Indians said, that 

 the water was deep and salt, and there were great fish spouting up in it. " 



*^ "Christopher Bannister, who had been Armourer and Gunsmith 

 to the Hudson's Bay Company, and had resided in the bay about 22 

 years, informed your committee: 



"That he had seen Copper frequently brought down by the North- 

 ern Indians, a piece of which he produced to your committee; and said, 

 he had seen great quantities of it there; and was informed by a young 

 man, who is now at Hudson's Bay, that the Indians told him, that it 

 was brought from a mine, in search of which the young man would gladly 

 have gone." 



"Mr. Alexander Browne, who has been six years in the Company's 

 service at Hudson's Bay as Surgeon, informed your committee, that he 

 has seen both copper and copper ore at Prince of Wales's Fort in Churchill 

 River, which the Northern Indians informed the witness they brought 

 from an Isthmus of land, which lies by a lake at the farthest extent of 

 their country: that 'tis hard to ascertain the distance from the accounts 

 of the Indians, by that 'tis judged to be about three or four hundred miles. 

 That he never heard the Indians say whether there was a passage to this 

 place from the Bay by water, but they informed him their river ran by it. 



"That they bring down the copper for ornaments, and that they 

 brought down the ore at the request of Governor Norton. But that the 

 witness does not know whether any of it was sent to England, or whether 

 any trial was made of it there. That he has seen about four or five 

 pounds of it, both before it was smelted, and after; and he takes it to 

 be a rich Ore, but does not understand metals. That he has heard of 

 Lead Ore at Hudson's Bay, but never saw any. 



"That he never saw the Indians smelt it; but they informed him, 

 that the earth was washed from the ore by showers, and that they smelt 

 it on a fire till it runs, and then beat it, it being very malleable. That he 



* Report from the Committee appointed to inquire into the State and Condition of 

 the Countries adjoining to Hudson's Bay. London. Govt. 1749, p. 223. 

 *» Report &c., 1749, p. 225. 



