150 DEASE AND SIMPSON, 1838. 



the 16th, ascending the long and dangerous line of rapids, Lake 

 Garry was reached on August 31st. Traces of Eskimo were 

 found as high as Baillies Eiver. On September 17th Mr. McLeod 

 was met with near Icy Eiver, crossing the portage to Lake Aylmer ; 

 the boat was navigated through Clinton Colden and Artillery 

 Lakes as far as Anderson's Fall, where it was left on the 25th ; 

 and crossing over the mountains, Fort Eeliance was reached on 

 September 27th. 



Voyage of Messrs. Dease and Simpson from the Coppermine to the 

 Great Fish River in 1838. — Leaving Fort Confidence at the north-east 

 end of the Great Bear Lake on June 7th, the ascent of the Dease 

 Eiver was began. On reaching its summit the boats were placed 

 on stout iron-shod sledges, and by dint of sailing and dragging 

 they were propelled across the Dismal Lakes on the ice, and were 

 launched on the Kendall Eiver on the 19th. Waiting the dis- 

 ruption of the ice, the Coppermine Eiver was gained on the 22nd, 

 the floods rendering the navigation very hazardous, and they were 

 arrested about a mile above the Bloody Fall on the 26th by the 

 ice. After a halt of five days, the Fall was descended on July 

 1st, the portage occupying six or seven hours ; the boats had to be 

 carried half a mile. On July 2nd they met the Eskimo. Detained by 

 the close condition of the ice until the 17th, they obtained by their 

 nets 140 fish. Leaving the mouth of the Coppermine on that day, 

 they had great difficulty in forcing their way through the ice, and 

 did not reach Point Barrow until the 29th, and even then new ice 

 of considerable thickness formed during the night. The tides and 

 currents are very irregular, depending on the wind and ice, but 

 on no occasion was a change of more than 1 foot in the level 

 noticed. Cape Flinders was reached on August 9th; here they 

 were detained ten days by violent gales from the north and west, 

 in lat. 68° 16', long. 109° 21', Mr. Simpson proceeding to the east- 

 ward on foot with five of the company's servants and two Indians, 

 each man carrying half a cwt. Beaching Cape Alexander on the 

 23rd, he found an open sea to the east, and discovered land to the 

 north, to which he gave the name of Victoria. Eeturning westerly, 

 Boathaven was reached on the 29th. A furious gale from the west 

 detained them until the 31st; but they were enabled to regain 

 the Coppermine Eiver on September 3rd. The boats were passed 

 up the Bloody Falls on the oth with some damage. Nothing but 

 the skill and dexterity of the guides long practised like ours in 

 all the intricacies of river navigation could have overcome so many 

 obstacles. The boats were deposited 6 miles below the junction of 



