OF THE POLAR SEA. 



15 



the height of one hundred and eighty feet, 

 commands an extensive prospect along this 

 fine river, and over the plains which stretch 

 out several miles at the back of it, bounded 

 by hills of considerable height, and appa- 

 rently better furnished with wood than the 

 neighbourhood of the fort, where the trees 

 grow very scantily. There had been an 

 establishment belonging to the Hudson's 

 Bay Company on the opposite bank of the 

 river, but it was abandoned in December 

 last, the residents not being able to procure 

 provision, from their hunters having been 

 disabled by the epidemic sickness, which 

 has carried off one-third of the Indians in 

 these parts. They belong to the Northern 

 Crees, a name given them from their re- 

 siding in the Athabasca department. There 

 are now but few families of these men, who, 

 formerly, by their numbers and predatory 

 habits, spreagL terror among the natives of 

 this part of the country. 



There are springs of bituminous matter 

 on several of the islands near these houses ; 

 and the stones on the river-bank are much 



