88 THEOUGH THE MAiOKENZIE BASIN 



in the angle of the two rivers, stood the Hudson's Bay Com- 

 pany's fort, whilst the old X. Y. Company's post, at that time 

 the best equipped on the river, stood on the north bank 

 opposite the Smoky. 



In a delightful afternoon spent in rambling over this inter- 

 esting neighbourhood, Mr. Mackenzie made out for me the 

 site of the latter establishment, now in the midst of a dense 

 thicket of nettles, shrubs, and saplings. In this locality the 

 antagonisms of old had full play — ^not only those of the 

 traders, but of the Indians — and the river exhibited much 

 more life and movement then than at the time of our visit. 



In remote days a constant warfare had been kept up by the 

 Crees on the river, who, just as they invaded the Blackfeet 

 on the Saskatchewan, encroached here upon the Beavers — at 

 that time a brave, numerous and warlike tribe, but now 

 decayed almost to extinction, the victims, it is said, of 

 incestuous intercourse. The Beavers had also an enemy in 

 their congeners, the Chipewyans, the three nations seemingly 

 dividing the great river between them. But neither suc- 

 ceeded in giving a permanent name to it. The -Unjigah, its 

 majestic and proper name, or the Tsa-hoo-dene-desay — 

 " The Beaver Indian River " — or the Amiskoo eeinnu Sepe 

 of the Crees, which has the same meaning, has not taken root 

 in our maps. The traditional peace made between its war- 

 ring tribes gave it its name, the Riviere la Paix of the 

 E-rench, which we have adopted, and by this name the river 

 will doubtless be known when the Indians, whose home it has 

 been for ages, have disappeared. 



On the 24th our work here was completed, and we took to- 

 our boats, which were to float us dovsm to Vermilion and 

 Athabasca Lake. During our stay, however, I had noted all 

 the information that could be gained respecting the Upper 

 Peace as an agricultural region, some of which I have ^.Iready 

 given. The knowledge obtainable about the fertile areas of 

 the hinterlands of a vast unsurveyed country like this 

 though not very ample, was no doubt trustworthy as far as 

 it went. 



