410 Thirty Years 
Wat We set forward at four a.m., with a favorable 
breeze, and made good progress, though the river was 
very winding. At eight we entered a branch that 
turned to the westward round the point of Halkett 
Island into the channel washing the main shore. We 
soon afterwards arrived at a spot where a large body 
of Esquimaux had beenencamped in the spring, and 
supposing that they might revisit this place, a present 
of an ice-chisel, kettle, and knife, was hungwup in a 
conspicuous situation. Soon after we had entered the 
channel that flows by the main shore, we first perceiv- 
ed lop-sticks, or pine trees, divested of their lower 
branches, for the purpose of land-marks, and there- 
fore concluded it was much frequented by the Esqui- 
maux, ‘Our course was then altered to N. W., and 
we soon passed the last of the well wooded alge 
The spruce fir-trees terminated in latitude 68° 36’ N. ; 
and dwarf willows only grew below this part. A very 
picturesque view was obtained of the Rocky Moun- 
-tains, and we saw the entire outline of their peaked 
hills, table-land, and quoin-shaped terminations. Two 
lofty ranges were fronted by a lower line of round- 
backed hills, in which we perceived the strata to 
be horizontal, and the stone of a yellow color. A 
few miles lower down we found hills of sand close to 
the west border of the river. We passed several de- 
serted huts, and in one spot saw many chips and 
