CHAPTER XII. 
DOWN TO THE SEA. 
BAKER LAKE, about seventy miles in length and per- 
haps half that in breadth, was originally discovered and 
rudely mapped by one Captain Christopher, about the 
year 1770. In searching for the North-West Passage 
he sailed into it with two small vessels from Hudson 
Bay, passing en route through Chesterfield Inlet and the 
two rivers flowing into it from Baker Lake. Having 
with us a copy of Captain Christopher’s map, though of 
a very sketchy character, it afforded us some informa- 
tion as to our future course. 
Since leaving the shores of Black Lake we had tra- 
versed to this point a distance of just eight hundred and 
ten miles, through an entirely unknown country. We 
had occupied more time in doing so than we had ex- 
pected, on account of the extraordinary character of the 
weather, but, however, on this evening of the 2nd of 
September we found ourselves at the mouth of “the 
great river flowing to the northward,” as described by 
the Black Lake Indians. 
From our astronomical observations and survey it 
was found that the extremity of the lake as determined 
by Christopher, and as located on the existing maps of 
Canada, was nine miles too far south and about fifty 
