291 



A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



driven from that land by the rising of the waters, and following the 

 tracks of animals on the sea-shore, they directed their course to the 

 northward. At length they came to a strait, which they crossed 

 upon a raft, but the sea has since frozen, and they have never been 

 able to return. These traditions are unknown to the Chipewyans. 



The number of men and boys of the Strong-bow nation, who are 

 capable of hunting, may amount to seventy. 



There are some other tribes who also speak dialects of the 

 Chipewyan, upon the upper branches of the Riviere aux Liards, 

 such as the Nohhannies and the Tsillawhaicdoot-dmneh, or Brush- 

 wood Indians. They are but little known, but the latter are sup- 

 posed occasionally to visit some of the establishments on Peace 

 River. 



Having now communicated as briefly as I could the principal 

 facts that came to our knowledge regarding the Indians in this quar- 

 ter, I shall resume the narrative of events at Fort Enterprise. — 

 The month of March proved fine. The thermometer rose once to 

 24° degrees above zero, and fell upon another day 49° below zero, 

 but the mean was 1 J' 57 ". 



On the 23d the last of our winter's stock of deers' meat was ex- 

 pended, and we were compelled to issue a little pounded meat 

 which we had reserved for making pemmican for summer use. Our 

 nets, which were set under the ice on the 15th, produced only two 

 or three small fish daily. Amongst these was the round fish, a spe- 

 cies of salmo, which we had not seen previously. 



On the following day two Indians came with a message from the 

 Hook, the chief next to Akaitcho in authority amongst the Copper 

 Indians. His band was between West Marten and Great Bear 

 Lakes, and he offered to provide a quantity of dried meat for us on 

 the banks of the Copper-Mine River in the beginning of summer, 

 provided we sent him some goods and ammunition. It was in his 

 power to do this without inconvenience, as he generally spends the 



