280 
17726 
aye) 
Maich, 
roth. 
A JOURNEY TO THE 
From the ftrangers who laft joined us we re- 
ceived fome ready-dreffed moofe-fkins for tenting 
and fhoe leather; alfo fome other fkins for cloth- 
ing, for all of which the Chief at the Factory was 
fo pay on our arrival, 
I cannot fufficiently lament the lofs of my qua-. 
drant, as the want of it muft render the courfe 
of my journey from Point Lake, where it was 
broken, very uncertain; and my watch ftopping 
while I was at the Athapufcow Lake, has contri- 
buted greatly to the misfortune, as 1 am now de- 
prived of every means of eftimating the diftances 
which we walked with any degree of accuracy, 
particularly in thick weather, when the Sun 
could not be feen. 
The Indians were employed at all convenient 
times in procuring birch-rind and making wood 
work ready for building canoes; alfo in prepar- 
ing {mali ftaffs of birch-wood, to take with them 
on the barren ground, to ferve as tent-poles all. 
the Summer; and which, as hath been already 
obferved, they convert into fnow-fhoe frames 
when the Winter fetsin. Here it may be proper 
to obferve, that none of thofe incidental avoca- 
tions interfere with, or retard the Indians in their 
journey ; for they always take the advantage of 
every opportunity which offers, as they pafs along, 
and when they fee a tree fit for their purpofe, 
cut it down, and either {trip off the bark, if that 
be what they want, or fplit the trunk in pieces ; 
and 
