362 SIMPSON'S EXPLOEATIONS—183Q-S9. 



CHAP TEE IX. 



WINTER AT FOET CONFIDENCE — EXTRAORDINARY APPETITES — SAILING OVER THE 

 ICE NEW LAND SURVEYED — THE IMPOSSIBLE ACHIEVED. 



The building party had not arrived at the spot selected for the winter 

 quarters before the 27th August, and at the date of the arrival of Dease and 

 Simpson (25th September), only a small store and the framework of a dwell- 

 ing-house had been erected. The site of the new establishment was a 

 wooded point on the northern side of a deep and narrow strait, on the oppo- 

 site or southern side of which was a large island. A fishery had been at 

 once established on the strait, and though the number of fish taken di- 

 minished rapidly as the cold increased, yet this source of food-supply proved 

 of the utmost importance, as otherwise the joint commanders would have 

 experienced the greatest difficulty in feeding the numerous Dog-rib and 

 Hare Indians who crowded, with their families, to the fort as soon as the 

 settlement was made. " To commence a winter within the Arctic circle," 

 remarks Simpson, " with a considerable party destitute of provisions, and 

 the Indians upon whom we mainly depended for subsistence requiring our 

 aid and support, was an alarming condition, which demanded the utmost 

 exertion of our personal resources." More nets were accordingly set in 

 the strait, and several fishing stations established at some distance. These, 

 however, ceased to be productive early in November, after which period the 

 settlers were obliged to place their chief reliance on the uncertain move- 

 ments of the reindeer. During October and November, Simpson occupied 

 himself chiefly in hunting with the Indians. At this season the deer began 

 to draw in from the north-east to the country between Great Bear Lake and 

 the Coppermine, and whenever the hunters were lucky enough to strike 

 down a number of deer, they despatched the greater part of the meat 

 to Fort Confidence. These hunting excursions were not only necessary and 

 profitable, but also delightful. " I highly relished the animation of the chase," 

 writes Simpson, " and the absolute independence of an Indian life. Our 

 tents were usually pitched in the last of the stunted straggling woods, whence 

 we issued out at daybreak among the bare snowy hills of the ' barren lands,' 



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