1 4 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



sary part of our equipment in the spring, to 

 prepare the bark and other materials for 

 constructing two canoes at this post. 



Mr. Stuart informed us that the residents 

 at Fort Chipewyan, from the recent sick- 

 ness of their Indian hunters, had been re- 

 duced to subsist entirely on the produce of 

 their fishing-nets, which did not then yield 

 more than a bare sufficiency for their sup- 

 port ; and he kindly proposed to us to re- 

 main with him until the spring : but, as we 

 were most desirous to gain all the informa- 

 tion we could as early as possible, and Mr. 

 Stuart assured us that the addition of three 

 persons would not be materially felt in their 

 large family at Chipewyan, we determined 

 on proceeding thither, and fixed on the 22& 

 for our departure. 



Pierre au Calumet receives its name from 

 the place where the stone is procured, of 

 which many of the pipes used by the Cana- 

 dians and Indians are made. It is a clayey 

 limestone, impregnated with various shells. 

 The house, which is built on the summit of 

 a steep bank, rising almost perpendicular to 



