116 Thirty Years 



Our observations place Fort Providence in latitude 

 62° 17' 19" K, longitude 114° 9' 28" W. ; the vari- 

 ation of the compass is 33° 35' 55" E., and the dip 

 of the needle 86° 38' 02". It is distant from Moose- 

 Deer Island sixty-six geographic miles. This is the 

 last establishment of the traders in this direction, but 

 the North-West Company have two to the northward 

 of it, on the Mackenzie River. It has been erected 

 for the convenience of the Copper and Dog-rib Indians, 

 who generally bring such a quantity of reindeer meat 

 that the residents are enabled, out of their superabun- 

 dance, to send annually some provision to the fort at 

 Moose-Deer Island. They also occasionally procure 

 moose and buffalo meat, but these animals are not nu- 

 merous on this side of the lake. Few furs are collect- 

 ed. Lcs 2)oissons inconnus, trout, pike, carp, and 

 white fish, are very plentiful, and on these the resi- 

 dents principally subsist. Their great supply of fish 

 is procured in the latter part of September and the 

 beginning of October, but there are a few taken daily 

 in the nets during the winter. The surrounding coun- 

 try consists almosl entirely of coarse grained granite, 

 frequently enclosing large masses of reddish felspar. 

 Tli esc rocks form hills which attain an elevation of 

 three hundred or lour hundred feet, about a mile be- 

 hind the house ; their surface Is generally caked, but 

 in the valleys between them a few spruce and 



