38 CRUISE OF THE STEAMER CORWIN. 



places, especially on the south side, tlic sides oi the mouutains adjacent to the lake liad broken 

 down, leaving l^are i)erj)endicular cliifs of dark slaty rock one thousantl feet high, while on 

 the other side the thick jnoss grew almost to the summits. At a height of eighteen hundred to 

 two thousand feet the ravines were morasses, through which we had to wade, up to our waists 

 in water and thick gi-ass. to reach the top. At the east end of the lake the country was low. 

 rolling tundra land, througii which tlie river flowed to the southwest. 



Five islands were crowded togethv^ri in the west end of the lake, and were covered with spruce 

 and willow trees. 



Our point of observation was about half way down the lake on the south side. Here the 

 cliffs were almost perpendicular masses of granite, broken into many peculiar forms by frost. 

 Upon one of these cliffs I carved my name and the date of the arrival of the party at this point. 



Opposit(\ a saiid-spit projected into the lake from the north shore. Witli this single excej)- 

 tion, the beach on tlia-t side is an unbroken line of white sand, extending from the head to the 

 foot of the lake. On the soutli side two jjrojecting points divide the sheet of water into three 

 almost equal portions. 



From our high position we could see that the lake contained no shoal places, except at the 

 mouth of the outlet. The depth of water must be very great, as we could not get bottom sound- 

 ing with a forty-fathom line. 



When hunting around tliis lake during the winter the Indians cross to the north shore at 

 the point where the long sa4id-s])it projects into tlie water. A short walk along the beach to 

 the westward Ijrings them to a jihice where the ascent of the mountains can be made, a,nd they 

 reach the ridge along which they travel in order to get around the head of tlie river. In this 

 vicinity the deer are said to congregate in great numbers, and the dry river-bed, filled with 

 snow, affords a natural and easy means of capturing them. The exact spot wliere all signs of 

 the river end was ])ointed out to me by the Indian, and Ixire iKjrthwest distant about fifteen miles. 

 Between us and this iila-ce. however, lay the lake, and beyond it the mountains, which would be 

 utterly imjiassable situated as we were. 



The Indian name Car-loog-ah-look-tah signifies Big Fish Lake, and has reference to the 

 immense fish which, according to Indian tradition, were once found in this hdve. Tales are told 

 of canoes and venturesome hunters l)eing bolted by these monsters, and one of my party 

 baited a Jiook. made of the antlers of a reindeer, with a goose, and attaching our tow-line 

 he gravely threw it far out into the deep water, and making the shoie end of this novel 

 fishing-line fast to a stout tree he .sat down and waited for some unwary fish to bite. Whether 

 the appetites of the mon.sters had been dulled by a previous feast of an entire deer (or maybe 

 a chance hunter), or whether, as I suspect, the size of the fish has been somewhat exaggerated 

 by mendacious historians, is a question which future inquiry must settle, for, after remaining 

 in the water all day and night, the tempting bait was hauled out and found not to have l)een 

 molested. Fishing prosecuted on a small scale, however, was eminently successful, and were 

 not this report intended as a plain statement of facts coming under my observation, I would 

 hardly dare state what the size of some of the troiit we captured was foTind to be, for fear of 

 being suspected of exaggeration. By actual measurement, however, I found trout here from 

 thi-ee to three and a half feet in length, and I saw in the clear water specimens much larger than 

 the ones we were enabled to procure. Having no other means at hand, we captured the fish by 

 firing a I'ifle shot directly under them, and so were enabled to procure only those whicli 

 approached very close to the shore. The common salmon, trout, and other varieties seen in the 

 river were observed liere also; but the large trout, the natives inform me, never leave the lake. 



July ^.'i oi)()ued clear ;uid bright, and I spent the entire day in getting a set of observations 

 for determiinng the longitude, latitude, and variations of the compass at this point. Equal 

 altitude sights were also taken as a check on the clironometers. 



Apropos of till! chrontmieter. it may be well to suggest the desirability of using :i good 

 liocket-chronometei- on expeditions of this character, instead oC a regular ship's chronometer. 

 In a country whei'e walking is attended witli such dilliciilties. 1 he chronometer formed the most 

 serious obstacle to rapid movements. Ind 1, struggling through willow-thickets, wading 



