2 



Journal of a Voyage through the 



and his two wives, in a small canoe, with two young In- 

 dians ; his followers in another small canoe. These men 

 were engaged to serve us in the two-fold capacity of inter- 

 preters and hunters. This Indian was one of the followers 

 of the chief who conducted Mr. Hearne to the copper-mine 

 river, and has since been a principal leader of his country- 

 men who were in the habit of carrying furs to Churchill 

 Factory, Hudson's Bay, and till of late very much attach- 

 ed to the interest of that company. These circumstances 

 procured him the appellation of the English Chief. 



We were also accompanied by a canoe that I had equip- 

 ped for the purpose of trade, and given the charge of it to 

 M. Le Roux, one of the Company's clerks. In this I was 

 obliged to ship part of our provision ; which, with the 

 clothing necessary for us on the voyage, a proper assort- 

 ment of the articles of merchandize as presents, to ensure 

 us a friendly reception among the Indians, and the ammu- 

 nition and arms requisite for defence, as well as a supply 

 for our hunters, were more than our own canoe could carry, 

 but by the time we should part company, there was every 

 reason to suppose that our expenditure would make suffi- 

 cient room for the whole. 



We proceeded twenty-one miles to the West, and then 

 took a course of nine miles to North-North- West, when 

 we entered the river, or one of the branches of the lake, of 

 which there are several. We then steered North five miles, 

 when our course changed for two miles to North- North- 

 East, and here, at seven in the evening, we landed and 

 pitched our tents. One of the hunters killed a goose, and 

 a couple of ducks ; at the same time the canoe was taken 

 out of the water, to be gummed, which necessary business 

 was effectually performed. 



Thursday 4. We embarked at four this morning, s and 

 proceeded North-North-East half a mile, North one mile 

 and a half, West two miles, North- West two miles, West- 

 North- West one mile and a half, North-North- West half 

 a mile, and West-North- West two miles, when this branch 

 loses itself in the Peace River. It is remarkable, that the 

 currents of these various branches of the lake, when the 

 Peace River is high, as in May and August, run into the 

 lake, which in the other months of the year returns its wa- 

 ters to them ; whence to this -place, the branch is not more 

 than two hundred yards wide, nor less than an hundred 

 and twenty. The banks are rather low, except in one 



