214 Transactions of the Canadian Institute. [vol. ix 



"This mine, if it deserves that appellation, is no more than an entire 

 jumble of rocks and gravel, which has been rent many ways by an earth- 

 quake. Through these ruins there runs a small river; but no part of it, 

 at the time I was there, was more than knee-deep. 



"The Indians who were the occasion of my undertaking this journey 

 represented this. mine to be so rich and valuable, that if a factory were 

 built at the river, a ship might be ballasted with the ore, instead of stone; 

 and that with the same ease and dispatch as is done with stones at Church- 

 ill River. By their account the hills were entirely composed of that 

 metal, all in handy lumps, like a heap of pebbles. But their account 

 differed so much from the truth, that I and almost all my companions 

 expended near four hours in search of some of this metal, with such poor 

 success, that among us all, only one piece of any size could be found. 

 This, however, was remarkably good, and weighed above four pounds. 

 I believe the copper has formerly been in much greater plenty; for in 

 many places, both on the surface and in the cavities and crevices of the 

 rocks, the stones are much tinged with verdigrise. 



"It may not be unworthy the notice of the curious, or undeserving 

 a place in my Journal, to remark, that the Indians imagine that every 

 bit of copper they find resembles some object in nature; but by what I 

 saw of the large piece, and some smaller ones which were found by my 

 companions, it requires a great share of invention to make this out, I 

 found that different people had different ideas on the subject, for the 

 large piece of copper above mentioned had not been found long before 

 it had twenty different names. One saying that it resembled this animal, 

 and another that it represented a particular part of another; at last it 

 was generally allowed to resemble an Alpine harecouchant; for my part, 

 I must confess that I could not see it had the least resemblance to any- 

 thing to which they compared it. It would be endless to enumerate the 

 different parts of a deer, and other animals, which the Indians say the 

 best pieces of copper resemble : it may therefore be sufificient to say, 

 that the larger pieces, with the fewest branches and the least dross, are 

 the best for their use, as by the help of fire, and two stones, they can beat 

 it out to any shape they wish. 



"Before Churchill River was settled by the Hudson's Bay Company, 

 which was not more than fifty years previous to this journey being under- 

 taken, the Northern Indians had no other metal but copper among them, 

 except a small quantity of iron-work, which a party of them who visited 

 York Fort about the year one thousand seven hundred and thirteen, or 

 one thousand seven hundred and fourteen, purchased ; and a few pieces of 

 old iron found at Churchill River, which had undoubtedly been left there 

 by Captain Monk. This being the case, numbers of them from all 



