146 



JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



their debts to the North-West Company 

 discharged. 



The chief, whose name is Akaitcho or 

 Big-foot, replied by a renewal of his assu- 

 rances, that he and his party would attend 

 us to the end of our journey, and that they 

 would do their utmost to provide us with 

 the means of subsistence. He admitted 

 that his tribe had made war upon the Es- 

 quimaux, but said they were now desirous 

 of peace, and unanimous in their opinion as 

 to the necessity of all who accompanied us 

 abstaining from every act of enmity against 

 that nation. He added, however, that the 

 Esquimaux were very treacherous, and 

 therefore recommended that we should ad- 

 vance towards them with caution. 



The communications which the chief and 

 the guides then gave respecting the route 

 to the Copper-Mine River and its course 

 to the sea, coincided in every material point 

 with the statements which were made by 

 Boileau and Blackmeat at Chipewyan, but 

 they differed in their descriptions of the 

 coast. The information, however, collected 



