OF THE POLAR SEA. 



47 



at the confluence of the main stream of the 

 Elk River is six or seven hundred feet 

 high, and stretches in a southern direction 

 behind Pierre au Calumet. Opposite to 

 that establishment, on the west side of the 

 river, at some distance in the interior, the 

 Bark Mountain rises and ranges to the 

 N.W., until it reaches Clear Lake, about 

 thirty miles to the southward of these forts, 

 and then goes to the south-westward. The 

 Cree Indians generally procure from this 

 range their provision, as well as the bark 

 for making their canoes. There is another 

 range of hills on the south shore, which 

 runs towards the Peace River. 



The residents of these establishments 

 depend for subsistence almost entirely on 

 the fish which this lake affords ; they are 

 usually caught in sufficient abundance 

 throughout the winter, though at the dis- 

 tance of eighteen miles from the houses ; 

 on the thawing of the ice, the fish remove 

 into some smaller lakes, and the rivers on 

 the south shore. Though they are nearer 

 to the forts than in winter, it frequently 



