8 ACROSS THE SUB-ARCTICS OF CANADA. 



but even these native tribes were found to have only the 

 vaguest ideas of the character of the country that lay 

 beyond a few days' journey inland. 



In addition to this meagre information, he had 

 procured sketch maps of several canoe routes lead- 

 ing northward toward the Barren Lands. The most 

 easterly of these routes commenced at a point on the 

 north shore of Black Lake, and the description ob- 

 tained of it was as follows : " Beginning at Black Lake, 

 you make a long portage northward to a little lake, then 

 across five or six more small ones and a corresponding 

 number of portages, and a large body of water called 

 Wolverine Lake will be reached. Pass through this, 

 and ascend a river flowing into it from the northward, 

 until Active Man Lake is reached. This lake will take 

 two days to cross, and at its northern extremity the 

 Height of Land will be reached. Over this make a 

 portage until another large lake of about equal size is 

 entered. From the north end of this second large lake, 

 a great river flows to the northward through a treeless 

 country unknown to the Indians, but inhabited by savage 

 Eskimos. Where the river empties into the sea we 

 cannot tell, but it flows a great way to the northward." 



From the description given, it appeared that this 

 river must flow through the centre of the unexplored 

 territory, and thence find its way either into the waters 

 of Hudson Bay or into the Arctic Ocean. It was by 

 this route we resolved to carry on the exploration, and, 

 if possible, make our way through the Barren Lands. 



One of the first and most important preparations for 

 the journey was the procuring of suitable boats, in- 

 asmuch as portability, strength and carrying capacity 



