OF THE POLAR SEA. 



35 



useful. We left Sail Island with a fair wind, and soon afterwards 

 arrived at a depdt situated on Swampy Lake, where we received a 

 supply of mouldy pemmican * Mr. Calder and his attendant were 

 the only tenants of this cheerless abode, and their only food was the 

 wretched stuff with which they supplied us, the lake not yielding 

 fish at this season. After a short delay at this post, we sailed through 

 the remainder of Swampy Lake, and slept at the Lower Portage in 

 Jack River; the distance sailed to-day being sixteen miles and a half. 



J ack River is only eight miles long ; but being full of bad rapids, 

 it detained us considerably. At seven in the morning of the 24th, 

 we crossed the Long Portage, where the woods, having caught fire 

 in the summer, were still smoking. This is a common accident, 

 owing to the neglect of the Indians and voyagers in not putting 

 out their fires, and in a dry season the woods may be seen blazing to 

 the extent of many miles. We afterwards crossed the Second, or 

 Swampy Portage, and in the evening encamped on the Upper Port- 

 age, where we were overtaken by an Indian bringing an answer from 

 Governor Williams to a letter I had written to him on the 15th, in 

 which he renewed his injunctions to the gentlemen of the boats ac- 

 companying us, to afford us every assistance in their power. The 

 Aurora Borealis appeared this evening in form of a bright arch, ex- 

 tending across the zenith in a N.W. and S.E. direction. The extent 

 of our voyage to-day was two miles. 



About noon on the 5th we entered Knee Lake, which has a very 

 irregular form, and near its middle takes a sudden turn, from whence 

 it derives its name. It is thickly studded with islands, and its shores 

 are low and well- wooded. The surrounding country, as far as we 

 could see, is flat, being destitute even of the moderate elevations 

 which occur near the upper part of Hill River. The weather was 

 remarkably fine, and the setting sun threw the richest tints over 

 the scene that I remember ever to have witnessed. 



* Buffalo meat, dried and pounded, and mixed with melted fat. 



