OF THE POLAR SEA. 



151 



son's Bay Company for the amount of his 

 wages. These arrangements being com- 

 pleted, we prepared to cross the lake. 



Mr. Weeks provided Dr. Richardson and 

 I with a cariole each, and we set out at 

 eleven A.M., on the 15th, for Moose-Deer 

 Island. Our party consisted of Belanger, 

 who had charge of a sledge laden with the 

 bedding, and drawn by two dogs, our two 

 cariole men, Benoit and Augustus. Pre- 

 vious to our departure, we had another con- 

 ference with Akaitcho, who, as well as the 

 rest of his party, bade us farewell, with a 

 warmth of manner rare among the Indians. 



The badness of Belanger's dogs, and the 

 roughness of the ice, impeded our progress 

 very much, and obliged us to encamp early. 

 We had a good fire made of the drift wood, 

 which lines the shores of this lake in great 

 quantities. The next day was very cold. 

 We began the journey at nine A.M., and 

 encamped at the Big Cape, having made 

 another short march, in consequence of the 

 roughness of the ice. 



On the 17th, we encamped on the most 



