OF THE POLAR SEA. 



143 



Beaulieu, and inserted a track along the sea-coast, which he had 

 followed in returning from a war excursion, made by his tribe against 

 the Esquimaux. He detailed several particulars of the coast and 

 the sea, which he represented as studded with well- wooded islands, 

 and free from ice, close to the shore, but not to a great distance, in 

 the month of July, He described two other rivers to the eastward 

 of the Copper-mine River, which also fall into the Northern Ocean. 

 The Anatessy, which issues from the Contway-to or Rum Lake, and 

 the Thloueea-tessy or Fish River, which rises near the eastern 

 boundary of the Great Slave Lake ; but he represented them both 

 as being shallow, and too much interrupted by barriers for being 

 navigated in any other than small Indian canoes. 



Having received this satisfactory intelligence, I wrote immediately 

 to Mr. Smith, of the North- West Company, and Mr. M'Vicar, of the 

 Hudson's Bay Company, the gentlemen in charge of the posts at 

 the Great Slave Lake, to communicate the object of the Expedition, 

 and our proposed route ; and to solicit any information they pos- 

 sessed, or could collect, from the Indians, relative to the countries 

 we had to pass through, and the best manner of proceeding. As 

 the Copper Indians frequent the establishment on the north side of 

 the lake, I particularly requested them to explain to that tribe the 

 object of our visit, and to endeavour to procure from them some 

 guides and hunters to accompany our party. Two Canadians were 

 sent by Mr. Keith with these letters. 



The month of April commenced with fine and clear but extremely 

 cold weather ; unfortunately we were still without a thermometer, 

 and could not ascertain the degrees of temperature. The corusca- 

 tions of the Aurora were very brilliant almost every evening of the 

 first week, and were generally of the most variable kind. On the 

 3d, they were particularly changeable. The first appearance exhi- 

 bited three illuminated beams issuing from the horizon in the north, 

 east, and west points, and directed towards the zenith ; in a few 



