60 A VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY 
too considerable to wade across: its breadth at 
that place was, I think, from forty-five to fifty feet. 
The tide went up it to the distance of two hundred 
and fifty or three hundred yards, as was evident by 
the tide-mark left on its banks, and the bones of 
whales that were lying on the left side of it at the 
above distance from its mouth. The bed of the 
stream above the bar as far as the tide went consisted 
of soft viscous mud ; beyond this it became rough and 
hard, consisting of loose stones and sand, which was 
indeed the nature of the bottom all the rest of the 
way as far as we went: it continued likewise nearly 
of an uniform breadth, that is, from forty to fifty 
yards, and every part of it pera where the tide 
flowed, was fordable. 
The first thing that attracted our notice in going 
along the bank of the stream, was to meet human 
tracks in so perfect a state, that, had the place been 
known to be frequented by man, we should have 
supposed that people had been here only a few days 
before ; but one of the men who was with me, as 
well as myself, remembered that we had been on the 
very same spot, where the tracks were observed, last 
year gathering plants, so that we had not the small- 
est doubt of their being the remains of our own foot- 
steps then made. For had any Esquimaux been at 
this place since we were here before, it is more than 
probable that they would have taken away the pole 
on the hill; as, from what we saw of them last year, 
nothing could be a greater prize for them than a 
piece of wood of the size of that in question. Be- 
sides, we observed that the impression of the heel of 
the shoe was deeper than that of any other part of 
it, which would not be the case were they the tracks 
