NORTHERN OCEAN 67 



by our host with, " Ah ! if I had been there, it should not have 1769- 

 been so ! " when, notwithstanding his hospitality on the present 

 occasion, he [9] would most assuredly have acted the same 

 part as the others had done, if he had been of the party. 



Having refreshed ourselves with a plentiful supper, we 

 took leave of our host for a while, and retired to our tent ; 

 but not without being made thoroughly sensible that many 

 things would be expected from me before I finally left 

 them. 



Early in the morning, my Indians assisted us in taking the 6th. 

 beaver houses already mentioned^ ; but the houses being small, 

 and some of the beavers escaping, they only killed six, all of 

 which were cooked the same night, and voraciously devoured 

 under the denomination of a feast. I also received from the 

 Indians several joints of venison, to the amount of at least two 

 deer ; but notwithstanding I was to pay for the whole, I found 

 that Mackachy and his wife got all the prime parts of the 

 meat ; and on my mentioning it to them, there was so 

 much clanship among them, that they preferred making a 

 present of it to Mackachy, to selling it to me at double 

 the price for which venison sells in those parts : a suffi- 

 cient proof of the singular advantage which a native of this 

 country has over an Englishman, when at such a distance 

 from the Company's Factories as to depend entirely on them 

 for subsistence. 



[10] Thinking I had made my stay here long enough, I 

 gave orders to prepare for our departure ; and as I had pur- 7th. 

 chased plenty of meat for present use while we were at this 

 tent, so I likewise procured such a supply to carry with us, as 

 was likely to last us to the Fort. 



Early in the morning we took a final leave of our host, and sth. 

 proceeded on our journey homewards. One of the strangers 

 accompanied us, for which at first I could not see his motive ; 



[1 Castor canadoisis Kuhl. This is the most northerly record near the 

 coast.— E. A. P.] 



