OF THE POLAR SEA. 



97 



rluence takes the name of the Great River, 

 which rises at the height of land called the 

 Frog Portage. 



The thermometer was this day 100° in 

 the sun, and the heat was extremely op- 

 pressive, from our constant exposure to it. 

 We crossed three portages in the Great 

 River, and encamped at the last; here we 

 met the director of the North-West Com- 

 pany's affairs in the north, *Mr. Stuart, on 

 his way to Fort William, in a light canoe. 

 He had left the Athabasca Lake only thir- 

 teen days, and brought letters from Mr. 

 Franklin, who desired that we would endea- 

 vour to collect stores of every kind at Isle 

 a la Crosse, and added a favourable account 

 of the country to the northward of the 

 Slave Lake. 



On the 16th, at three A.M., we continued 

 our course, the river increasing to the 

 breadth of half a mile, with many rapids 

 between the rocky islands. The banks 

 wefe luxuriantly clothed with pines, poplars, 

 and birch trees, of the largest size ; but the 

 different shades of green were undistin- 



VOL. II. H 



