In the Arctic Regions. 75 
in latitude 53° 36’ N., longitude 113° 45’ W., when 
it appears to take its course due north. 
At daylight on the 14th we began to descend the , 
range of hills leading towards the river, and no small 
care was required to prevent. the sledges from being 
broken in going down these almost perpendicular 
heights, or being precipitated into the glens on each 
side. As a precautionary measure the dogs were taken 
off, ‘and the sledges guided by the men, notwithstand- 
ing which they descended with amazing rapidity, and 
the men were thrown into the most ridiculous attitudes 
in endeavoring to stop them. When we had arrived 
at the bottom I could not but feel astonished at the 
laborious task which the voyagers have twice in the 
year to encounter at this place, in conveying their 
stores backwards and forwards. We went across the 
Clear Water River, which runs at the bases of these 
hills, and followed an Indian track along its northern 
bank, by which we avoided the White Mud and Good 
Portages. We afterwards followed the river as far as 
the Pine Portage, when we passed through a very ro- 
mantic defile of rocks, which presented the appearance 
of Gothic ruins, and their rude characters were happi+ 
ly contrasted with the softness of the snow, and the 
darker foliage of the pines which crowned their sum- 
mits. We next crossed the Cascade Portage, which 
is the last on the way to the Athabasca Lake, and we 
