136 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



could, and to provide guides and hunters from the tribe which is 

 best acquainted with the country we proposed to travel through. 



To our great regret, Mr. Stuart expressed much doubt as to our 

 prevailing upon any experienced Canadian voyagers to accompany us 

 to the sea, in consequence of their dread of the Esquimaux ; who, he 

 informed us, had already destroyed the crew of one canoe, which 

 had been sent under Mr. Livingstone, to open a trading commu- 

 nication with those who reside near the mouth of the Mackenzie 

 River ; and he mentioned, that the same tribe had driven away the 

 canoes under Mr. Clark's direction, going to them on a similar object, 

 to which circumstance I have alluded in my remarks at Isle a la 

 Crosse. 



This was unpleasant information ; but we were comforted by 

 Mr. Stuart's assurance that himself and his partners would use every 

 endeavour to remove their fears, as well as to promote our views in 

 every other way; and he undertook, as a necessary part of our 

 equipment in the spring, to prepare the bark and other materials for 

 constructing at this post two canoes. 



Mr. Stuart informed us that the residents at Fort Chipewyan, 

 from the recent sickness of their Indian hunters, have been reduced 

 to subsist entirely on the produce of their fishing-nets, which did 

 not then yield more than a bare sufficiency for their support ; and he 

 kindly proposed to us to remain with him until the spring ; but, as 

 we were most desirous to gain all the information we could as early 

 as possible, and Mr. Stuart assured us that the addition of three 

 persons would not be materially felt in their large family at 

 Chipewyan, we determined on proceeding thither, and fixed on the 

 2 2d for the day of our departure. 



This house receives its name from the place where the stone is 

 procured, of which many of the pipes used by the Canadians and 

 Indians are made. It is a clayey limestone, impregnated with 

 various shells. The house is built on the summit of a steep bank, 



