ACKOSS THE SUB-ARCTICS OF CANADA 



sketch-maps of several canoe routes leading northward toward 

 the Barren Lands. The most easterly of these routes com- 

 menced at a point on the north shore of Black Lake, and the 

 description obtained of it was as follows: "Beginning at 

 Black Lake, you make a long portage northward to .a little 

 lake, then cross five or six more small ones and a correspond- 

 ing number of portages, and a large body of water called 

 Wolverine Lake will be reached. Pass through this, and 

 ascend a river flowing into it from the northward, until Active 

 Man Lake is reached. This lake will take two days to cross, 

 and at its northern extremity the Height of Land will be 

 reached. Over this make a portage until another large lake 

 of about equal size is entered. From the north end of this 

 second large lake, a great river flows to the northward through 

 a treeless country unlmown to the Indians, but inhabited by 

 savage Eskimos. Where the river empties into the sea we 

 cannot tell, but it flows a great way to the northward." 



From the description given, it appeared that this river 

 must flow through the centre of the unexplored territory, and 

 thence find its way either into the waters of Hudson Bay 

 or into the Arctic Ocean. It was by this route we resolved 

 to carry on the exploration, and, if possible, make our way 

 through the Barren Lands. 



One of the first and most important preparations for the 

 journey was the procuring of suitable boats, inasmuch as 

 portability, strength and carrying capacity were all essential 

 qualities. These were obtained from the Peterboro' Canoe 

 Company, who furnished us with two beautiful varnished 

 cedar canoes, eighteen feet in length, and capable of carrying 

 two thousand pounds each, while weighing only one hundred 

 and twenty pounds. Arrangements had also been made to 

 have a nineteen-foot basswood canoe, used during the previous 

 summer, and two men in readiness at Fort McMurray on 

 the Athabasca Biver. 



Four other canoemen were chosen to complete the party, 



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