94 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



day one of the new trading guns, which we 

 had recently received from Fort Chipew- 

 yan, burst in the hands of a young Indian, 

 fortunately, however, without doing him 

 any material injury. This was the sixth ac- 

 cident of the kind which had occurred since 

 our departure from Slave Lake. Surely 

 this deficiency in the quality of the guns, 

 which hazards the lives of so many poor 

 Indians, requires the serious consideration 

 of the principals of the trading Compa- 

 nies. 



On the 4th, at three in the morning, the 

 party under the charge of Dr. Richardson 

 started. It consisted of fifteen voyagers, 

 three of them conducting dog sledges, Bald- 

 head and Basil, two Indian hunters with 

 their wives, Akaiyazzeh, a sick Indian and 

 his wife, together with Angelique and Rou- 

 lante ; so that the party amounted to twenty- 

 three exclusive of children. 



The burdens of the men were about 

 eighty pounds each, exclusive of their per- 

 sonal baggage, which amounted to nearly 

 as much more. Most of them dragged 



