EDITOK'S INTRODUCTION 17 



" mine " of copper which he was sent to explore was exceed- 

 ingly meagre. He verified the report of the existence of 

 native copper on the surface in uncertain quantity. Incident- 

 ally he showed that the place where it occurred was too remote 

 and difficult of access to permit of a copper mine being worked 

 at a profit, even if the copper should be found in great 

 abundance. But that was all. In fact, even to the present 

 time, we have very little accurate knowledge of the character 

 and extent of this copper deposit near the Coppermine River, 

 as may be seen by referring to the notes on pages 194 et seq. 



On Hearne's first and second journeys he had quite 

 adequate scientific apparatus, and so could take astronomical 

 observations to determine his true position. So we find that 

 he occasionally made use of his quadrant and took such 

 observations ; consequently the positions given on the map 

 for the principal points in these two journeys are approxi- 

 mately correct. But he started on his third journey with very 

 faulty instruments, and he would appear to have made very 

 little use even of them. The map of the course followed by 

 him on this journey strongly suggests a rough sketch made 

 by his Indian guide, rather than a careful plan worked out by 

 himself, from day to day, or week to week. For example, 

 between Island and Kasba Lakes, near the beginning of his 

 journey, and shortly after he had diverged from his course 

 of the previous year, he began to go wrong. If he was using 

 his compass at all, it is possible that some source of local 

 magnetic attraction was influencing it, for the position of the 

 last-named lake (on his map) is some sixty or seventy miles 

 too far north. It is inconceivable that he could have made 

 any serious effort to correct this faulty course by astronomical 

 observations with his quadrant. His book is chiefly valuable 

 therefore not so much because of its geographical informa- 

 tion, but because it is an accurate, sympathetic, and patently 

 truthful record of life among the Chipewyan Indians at that 

 time. Their habits, customs, and general mode of life, how- 



B 



