OF THE POLAR SEA. 9 



the object of our expedition had been ex- 

 plained to them, expressed themselves much 

 interested in our progress ; but they could 

 not give a particle of information respecting 

 the countries beyond the Athabasca Lake. 

 We smoked with them, and gave each per- 

 son a glass of mixed spirits and some 

 tobacco. A Canadian servant of the North- 

 West Company, who was residing with 

 them, informed us that this family had lost 

 numerous relatives, and that the destruction 

 of property, which had been made after 

 their deaths, was the only cause for the piti- 

 able condition in which we saw them, as the 

 whole family were industrious hunters, and, 

 therefore, were usually better provided with 

 clothes, and other useful articles, than most 

 of the Indians. We purchased from them 

 a pair of snow-shoes, in exchange for some 

 ammunition. The Chipewyans are cele- 

 brated for making them good and easy to 

 walk in ; we saw some here upwards of six 

 feet long, and three broad. With these 

 unwieldy clogs an active hunter, in the 

 spring, when there is a crust on the surface 



