lirr.oOD U Cll 0.N. 
“ther neceffary or fatisfactory. And if the faid 
“ river be likely to be of any utility, take poflef- 
“ fion of it on behalf of the Hudfon’s Bay Com- 
“pany, by cutting your name on fome of the 
“© rocks, as alfo the date of the year, month, &c.* 
‘¢ When you attempt to trace this or any other 
river, be careful that the Indians are furnifhed 
“with a fufficient number of canoes for trying 
*< the depth of water, the ftrength of the current, 
«© &oc. If by any unforefeen accident or difafter 
“ you fhould not be able to reach the before-men- 
“ tioned river, itis earneftly recommended to you, 
“if poffible, to know the event of Wager Straitt; 
*< for it isreprefented by the laft difcoverers to ter- 
“* minate in fmall rivers and lakes. See how far 
“the woods are from the navigable parts of it ; 
“and whether a fettlement could with any pro- 
“ priety be made there. If this fhould prove un- 
** worthy 
*T was not provided with inftruments for cutting on ftone; but for form- 
fake, Icut my name, date of the year, &c. on a piece of board that had 
been one of the Indian’s targets, and placed it in a heap of {tones ona fmall 
eminence near the entrance of the river, on the South fide. 
+ There is certainly no harm in making out all Inftructions in the fulleft 
manner, yet it muft be allowed that thofe two parts might have been omit~ 
ted with great propriety; for as neither Middleton, Ellis, nor Chriftopher 
were able to penetrate far enough up thofe inlets to difcover any kind of 
herbage except mofs and grafs, much lefs woods, it was not likely thofe parts 
were fo materially altered for the better fince their times, as to make it 
worth my while to attempt a farther difcovery of them; and efpecially as 
I had an opportunity, during my fecond Journey, of proving that the 
woods do not reach the fea-coaft by fome hundreds of miles in the paral- 
lel of Chefterfield’s Inlet. And as the edge of the woods tothe North- 
ward always tends to the Weltward, the diftance mutt be greatly increafed 
in the jatitude of Wager Strait. Thofe parts have long fince been vifited 
by the Company’s fervants, and are within the known limits of their 
Charter; confequently require no other form of pofleffion, 
xlv 
