106 THEOUGH THE MACKENZIE BASIE" 



quaint appearance of some secluded fishing village on the 

 (xulf of St. Lawrence. 



In sight, but above the bay, was the trading-post of Colin 

 Eraser, whose father, the McCrimmon of the ISTorth-West, 

 was Sir George Simpson's piper. The late Chief-factor 

 Camsell, of Fort Simpson, and myself paddled up to it, and 

 were most hospitably entertained by Mr. Eraser and his 

 agreeable family. His father's bagpipes, still in excellent 

 order, were speedily brought out, and it was interesting to 

 handle them, for they had heralded the approach of the 

 autocratic little Governor to many an inland post from 

 Hudson's Bay to Eraser River, over seventy years before. 



Several days were spent at the fort taking declarations, 

 but, unlike Vermilion or Dunvegan, there were few large 

 families here, the applicants being mainly young people. 

 The agricultural resources of this region of rocks are cer- 

 tainly meagre compared with those of Peace Kiver. Potatoes, 

 where there is any available soil, grow to a good size; barley 

 was nearly ripe when we were there, and wheat ripens, too. 

 But, of course, it is not a farming region, nor are fish plenti- 

 ful at the west end of the lake, the Athabasca River, which 

 enters there, giving for over twenty miles eastward a muddy 

 .hue to the water. The rest of the lake is crystal clear, and 

 whitefish are plentiful, also lake trout, which are caught 

 up to thirty, and even forty, pounds' weight. 



The distance from Eort Chipewyan to Eond du Lac is 

 about 185 miles, but the lake extends over 75 miles farther 

 eastward in a narrow arm, giving a tot^l length of about 300 

 miles, the greatest width being about 50 miles. The whole 

 eastern portion of the lake is a desolate scene of primi- 

 tive rock and scrub pine, with many quartz exposures, 

 which are probably mineralized, but ;with no land, not 

 even for a garden. The scenery, however, from Black 

 Bay to Fond du Lac is very beautiful, consisting largely 

 of islands as diversified and as numerous as the Thou- 

 sand Islands in the St. Lawrence. These extremely 



