FORT RAE 



83 



sun by the slope of the hill, still remained upon the stem, 

 though it was past the season for them. The berries were like 

 large blackberries in shape, but yellow in color and slightly 

 oily in taste. 1 This island, two hundred yards in diameter, had 

 a little soil among the rocks, which supported prolific red rasp- 

 berries, red and black currants, saskatoons, and gooseberries, 

 while the surface of the moss was covered with yellow berries, 

 creeping blueberries, cranberries, and crowberries. Our party, 

 which (including Alexis' wife and three children) numbered 

 eight mouths, swept across the island like a swarm of locusts. 

 We crossed the next traverse that afternoon. It was about 

 fourteen miles to the islands in advance, which appeared on the 

 horizon as those behind us sank out of sight. The shifting 

 wind might raise a dangerous sea in a few minutes; realizing 

 this we paddled with all our strength, not missing a stroke for 

 the three hours occupied in crossing. 



The next day we continued a few miles among the islands 

 of Simpson's Group until we were again stopped by a norther, 

 that dashed the waves high over the cliffs, and made it impos- 

 sible to set the net, even in the lee of the little rocky island 

 where we camped. The scrubby timber had been recently 

 burned, making it a charred and dismal place. The gale con- 

 tinued for four days with frequent showers of rain and sleet. 

 We had nothing to eat and spent the time in drinking tea and 

 lying in a sort of torpor. I was not hungry but became very 

 weak, though I was able to paddle steadily from 4 a. m. on the 

 fifteenth day until 11 o'clock when we crossed the Grand 

 Traverse, the most dreaded of all, and reached the shores of 

 the Slave Delta at ITsle de Pierre. We found a few gooseber- 

 ries there which were fully ripened and as large as cherries. 

 The vegetation was much more varied and luxuriant than upon 

 the north shore of the lake. Waterfowl and muskrats were 

 quite common in the delta, though without ammunition we 

 could not secure any of them. After our feast of berries, hav- 

 ing disposed of one whitefish, the total catch of our last station, 

 we started for Resolution, now only twenty-five miles distant. 



1 Mackenzie mentions the occurrence of "another berry, of a very pale 

 yellow colour, that resembles a raspberry, and is of a very agreeable 

 flavour" ( Voyages, p. 69), near the mouth of the Mackenzie River. This is 

 probably the same species and would place its northern limit of distribu- 

 tion at the Arctic coast. It is called " tsuakah " by the Slaveys. 



