At some distance to the north of East Main is a bight, called Richmond Bay: here is a house belonging to the Company, but not a permanent establishment; as the people who arrive from East-Main Factory in the spring, return again to that place in the fall of the year, to remain for the winter. The annual voyages to Richmond are undertaken for the purpose of procuring oil, as there is a good white-whale fishery in this Bay. The white whale[24] is not much larger than a first-rate porpoise; neither does it yield any whalebone fit for use: but the oil is nearly equal in value to that of the seal; and it was sold in England, in the year 1813, at fifty-six pounds a ton. The fish itself is perfectly white.

There is also a small whale fishery at Churchill Factory, but it is not very productive: perhaps it would be more advantageous for the Company if they were to convert the remains of it into a new fishing establishment in some more efficient situation.

I have now reached that part of my Journal which I before alluded to, as being the most proper place to introduce the account of the disastrous termination of two attempts made by the Hudson’s-Bay Company to settle a permanent white-whale fishery at Richmond Bay.

When first the Europeans went to settle at Richmond, the Esquimaux, who reside about this part, kept them in a continual state of alarm all the winter, by lurking about the woods, in their sledges drawn by dogs. At length an English boy was missing from the settlement; and, after some difficulty, two Esquimaux were seized, and confined in separate apartments. In order to recover the absent youth, the settlers made use of a stratagem. A musket was discharged in a remote apartment; and the settlers entering the room in which one of the Esquimaux was confined, they informed him, by signs, that his comrade had been put to death, for decoying away the boy; and they gave him to understand, at the same time, that he must prepare to undergo the same fate, unless he would faithfully pledge himself to restore the absentee. The Esquimaux naturally promised every thing; and on being set at liberty, he made the best of his way into the woods, and, of course, was never afterwards heard of. They kept the other native for some time a prisoner: at length, he tried to effect his escape, by boldly seizing the sentinel’s firelock at night, but the piece accidentally going off, he was so terrified at the report, that they easily replaced him in confinement: yet either the loss of liberty, a supposition that his countryman had been murdered, or that he was himself reserved for some cruel death, deprived the poor wretch of reason. As he became exceedingly troublesome, the settlers held a conference as to the most eligible mode of getting rid of him; and it being deemed good policy to deter the natives from similar offences, by making an example, they accordingly shot the poor maniac in cold blood, without having given themselves the trouble to ascertain whether he were really guilty or innocent.

Possessing only the plain leading facts of this affair[25], it is not easy to determine how far existing circumstances might have justified such an act of severity towards an ignorant being, who was also, perhaps, totally innocent. The reasons ought certainly to have been weighty which induced them to put the poor man to death; and I hope they will be able hereafter to reconcile the deed to God and to their own consciences.

After this time, Richmond was abandoned as a permanent establishment; and they fell into the present method of visiting this place only during the fishing season, and returning to pass the winter at East-Main Factory. Captain Turner, however, represented to the Hudson’s-Bay Company, that, in his opinion, want of perseverance was alone necessary to render Richmond a safe and permanent settlement; and that, by having people on the spot, ready to begin fishing early in the spring of the year, much greater profit would necessarily accrue to the Company. Accordingly, he received directions to take thither seven people, who were to remain at Richmond during the whole winter. In the spring of the succeeding year, the northern or Hunting Indians, who had visited Richmond in pursuit of game, came, as usual, to barter their furs at East-Main Factory; at the same time bringing the dreadful intelligence that the seven unfortunate Europeans had been murdered by the Esquimaux. The bodies of some of the settlers were afterwards found; although it be by no means certain that they were killed by the Esquimaux: such, however, is a fair presumption, as this people had before displayed a hostile disposition in the case of the boy; and the place was rifled of all the metal, of which the Esquimaux are known to be remarkably fond: add to this, that the northern Indians had long been accustomed to trade yearly at East Main, and no instance had ever been known of their behaving with treachery towards the Europeans.

On the other hand, we must allow, that the Hunting Indians and the Esquimaux live in a state of constant enmity, and, consequently, that their evil reports of each other should be cautiously received. It is also certain, that the northern Indians are as partial to spirituous liquors as the Esquimaux are to metals. Three bloody shirts, belonging to the murdered settlers, were found in the tent of a northern Indian, which he alleged to have taken from the bodies of the slain, after the Esquimaux had quitted them. Upon the whole, it remains uncertain whether the settlers at Richmond perished by the hands of the Esquimaux, or by those of the northern Indians: for my own part, I should be inclined to the former opinion. This catastrophe has effectually put a stop to any further attempts towards establishing a permanent settlement at Richmond Bay.

The following anecdote of Mr. Darby, the father of the celebrated Mrs. Mary Robinson, will shew that the Esquimaux are of a treacherous disposition, and extremely averse from any settlements being made on their coasts.

Mr. Darby had long fostered in his mind a scheme of establishing a whale fishery upon the coast of Labrador, and of civilizing the Esquimaux Indians, in order to employ them in the extensive undertaking. Hazardous and wild as this plan appeared to his wife and to his friends, Mr. Darby persevered in his resolution to prosecute it; and actually obtained the approbation and encouragement of some of the leading men at that time in power, who promoted his designs. To facilitate the execution of his plan, he deemed it necessary to reside at least two years in America. His wife felt an invincible antipathy for the sea, and, of course, heard his determination with horror. The pleadings of affection, of reason, and of prudence, were alike ineffectual, and he sailed for America.

The issue of this rash enterprise proved quite as unfortunate as it was predicted. Mr. Darby had embarked in it his whole fortune; and it failed. The noble patrons of his plan deceived him in their assurances of marine protection, and the island of promise became a scene of desolation. “The Indians rose in a body, burnt his settlement, murdered many of his people, and turned the product of their toil adrift on the merciless ocean.”—This great misfortune was followed by other commercial losses; and the family of this too enterprising man were, in consequence, reduced from a state of affluence and luxury to a very different condition[26].

Having now described the whole of the Factories established upon the sea-coast of Hudson’s Bay, it will be necessary to say something of the interior: this is so far from being unknown, that a man may with safety travel from Hudson’s Bay to Quebec, in Canada, by land. The Hudson’s-Bay Company have many small factories, or rather mart-houses, dispersed in all directions, for upwards of one thousand miles in the interior; to which the Indians bring furs, feathers, quills, &c. in exchange for cloths, blankets, ammunition, fowling-pieces, trinkets, &c. The furs thus collected are sent down the rivers, in large boats, to the factories on the sea-coast, whence they are shipped off for Europe, as before described. There is great jealousy existing between the Hudson’s-Bay traders and the Canadian Company, styled the North-West Adventurers, respecting the traffic in peltry with the Indians. As the mart-houses of the two parties meet inland, each uses all the means in its power to induce the natives to barter furs with themselves, in preference to their opponents: nay, to such a pitch have they carried their mutual animosity, that it is not long since a man in the Company’s employ actually killed a Canadian trader, in a dispute relative to the purchase of some furs from the Indians; for which offence the culprit was tried at Montreal: and as it appeared that the Canadian had given him sufficient provocation, the jury returned a verdict of manslaughter.

The Indians have not failed to observe this competition, so impolitic on both parts, and they profit by it accordingly.

Each factory and mart-house has its Chief, appointed by the Company; and there is also a northern and southern Superintendant, who is directed to visit all the places of note within his district, at least once in the year. The northern department comprises Churchill, York, and Severn factories, on the coast; and the southern embraces Albany, Moose, East Main, and Richmond. To determine the interior limits of each, an imaginary line of demarcation is drawn east and west from Hudson’s Bay to the Stony Mountains.

With respect to the inhabitants of this vast desert I shall say but little, as Sir Alexander M^cKenzie has given a very full description of the various tribes by which it is peopled[27]. The most populous of all, perhaps, are the Cree Indians: they appear to me to be the same race described by the before-mentioned author, under the name of Knisteneaux. They occupy the country from Churchill nearly as far south as Moose, and are found scattered almost as far to the west as the Stony Mountains; but their numbers have been much diminished of late, owing to the small-pox. When this dreadful malady first reached this country, as the Indians were not aware of any remedy by which they could counteract its violence, they were accustomed to leave the person afflicted in the midst of a wood, with a sufficient stock of food for two or three days’ subsistence; and when this scanty provision was expended, the unhappy victim must have necessarily perished with hunger. The banks of the rivers, for a time, exhibited a most loathsome spectacle, of bodies which had thus fallen a sacrifice to this disorder.

Besides the Cree or Knisteneaux Indians, there are innumerable tribes spread over the interior of this vast country; the principal of which are, the Copper, Dog-ribbed, and Hare-foot Indians, towards the north; the Swees, Bongees, Slave, and Stone Indians, towards the west; likewise a variety of tribes inhabiting the southern country around Moose, such as the Mistassins, and others. The different tribes have frequently wars with each other; and they appear to agree unanimously in one respect only, that is to say, in universal and eternal hatred of the Esquimaux. However, it fortunately happens, from the contrariety of their modes of life, that their parties seldom come into contact with each other, and consequently the battles between them are very rare.

It remains now to speak of one of the most enterprising speculations, perhaps, ever undertaken by a single person; namely, the attempt lately made by Lord Selkirk to establish a colony upon the banks of the Red River, in a situation nearly equidistant from York Factory and Lake Superior, and in the latitude of 50° N.[28]

His Lordship holds this land by a grant of 12,000 square acres from the Hudson’s-Bay Company. The first settlers left Sligo in the year 1811; and arriving in Hudson’s Bay, they past the winter of that year at York Factory. In the spring of 1812, they proceeded to their destination, under the command of a Captain M^cDonald, formerly belonging to a veteran corps in Canada: but this gentleman seems deficient in the essential art of conciliating those who are placed under his government: however, the situation of the colony is undoubtedly good, and the soil so fertile as to produce every thing almost spontaneously. The winters, indeed, are more severe than in places upon the same parallel of latitude in Europe, but much milder than at Moose, or any of the factories in Hudson’s Bay; and yet even at Moose they produce barley, if it be a fine year; and Orkney oats every year, by sowing them a short distance from the sea-beach. Still, it is extremely doubtful if ever his Lordship’s descendants will derive much benefit from their father’s mighty speculations; unless, indeed, he could prevail upon his tenants to grant him a sort of tithe from their produce, in lieu of rent. With this corn he could supply the Hudson’s-Bay settlements, which would save the Company a considerable expense, and they might repay his Lordship in the current coin of the realm.

The Prince of Wales took out many women and settlers for the colony, as also a Mr. White, to act as surgeon. Lord Selkirk has agreed with this gentleman, to give him a yearly stipend of 100l. together with a grant of five hundred acres of land, and a labourer four days in the week for its cultivation.

It is difficult to imagine what were his Lordship’s intentions with respect to the colony at Red River. Allowing the luxuriance of the soil to answer his fullest expectations, by what possible means could the produce be conveyed to an adequate market, so as to repay the expenses of its carriage? The communication between the colony and York Factory is kept up by boats, through the great Lake Winnepeg; a little to the southward of which runs the Asnaboyne or Red River: yet the channels of the different rivers are so full of falls, rapids, portages and carrying-places, that the labour of conveying the boats is immense, and consequently quite unfit for the purposes of commerce, except it be in furs, and in such light merchandize.

It was for some time believed that a large opening to the northward of Richmond, and near to Cape Smith, was an inlet to some large inland sea; but, in the year 1786, Mr. Davison, an officer in one of the Company’s ships, was sent in a schooner to explore the same. The following extract contains the description of his progress, as expressed by himself. “On entering the bight, and perceiving no land a-head, we sat down to a bottle of wine, and drank success to the new discovery: however, we were soon chagrined by the appearance of some low islands stretching across the opening; and shortly afterwards, coming to an anchor under one of them, we climbed to the top of it, and, to our great mortification, we perceived that the supposed sea was nothing more than a deep gulf, terminated at the bottom by thick clusters of islands, among which the sea ran winding in romantic mazes. Here we found the Esquimaux, who bartered away their dresses, &c. with great avidity, for any sort of metal.”—Notwithstanding this clear statement, there are experienced men who still suppose that an inland sea does exist; and for these reasons:—1st. There is a continual current setting to the east from Cape Henrietta Maria, towards the supposed opening; 2dly, The bay ship, in her voyage to Moose, has frequently observed a large glut of loose ice off Cape Henrietta Maria, which, before her return, has entirely disappeared; and whither could it have drifted with a strong easterly current, unless some opening had admitted its escape from the bay?—These are the reasons for and against the existence of the supposed sea; but it is to be regretted, that the Company do not make a decisive attempt to ascertain the fact.

It will now be necessary to return to the proceedings of the ship.

August 24th.—Course run S. W. by W. ¼W. 34 miles. In the morning, past to the northward of Mansfield, a very long, low, level island, lying about seventeen leagues to the westward of Cape Diggs. Its extent from north to south is said to be full sixty miles. As it abounds with marshes and ponds of fresh water, it may be considered as the grand nursery of those innumerable flocks of wild geese and ducks which afterwards line the shores of Hudson’s Bay: however, it is but seldom visited; and the ships generally avoid going too near to it, in consequence of some shoals that lay around the shore. Towards evening, we steered away W. S. W. by compass.

August 25th.—Course run S. S. W. ¾ W. 101 miles. As there is generally a glut of ice floating about the centre of Hudson’s Bay, a ship, on leaving Mansfield Island, and having a northerly wind, ought to steer for Cape Churchill, until they reach within sixty leagues of the land, when they may alter the course, and steer for York direct. It is necessary to make this angle, to avoid the body of ice in question. Another thing worthy of remark is, that if a ship steer in for Cape Churchill until she have forty fathoms water, she may be certain of being in latitude of the Cape: and when she reaches within five or six leagues of the land, she will have eighteen fathoms water. But a navigator must be cautious to make allowance for the southerly current, which sets continually along the western coast of Hudson’s Bay.

August 26th.—Course run S. W. ¼ S. 56 miles. The wind this day to the S. S. W. Our latitude at noon was 60°. 11′. N. ship still standing to the westward. It has been already noticed, that the officers of the Hudson’s-Bay ships have a motive in concealing from the public the knowledge which they actually possess relative to the navigation of the Northern Seas; and I pledged myself to explain that motive at a proper opportunity. I cannot undertake this unpleasant task at a more apposite time than the present, when it may serve to enliven the dulness of a few nautical remarks, which I think it necessary to insert into this part of my Journal.

In the first place, it is proper to state, that this illiberal concealment has its origin in the Company themselves, who (as I am told by their own officers) have issued the strictest and most peremptory commands to the people in their employment, “that they take especial care to conceal all papers, and every other document, which may tend to throw light upon the Company’s fur-trade.”—It is probable that the Company had no other motive in issuing these directions, than to keep themselves and their gains shrowded in a profound silence; as it appears that, above all other things, they wish their trading concerns not to become a topic of general conversation in the mother-country. Actuated by such principles, the officers of the Hudson’s-Bay ships conceive it to be their duty to conceal likewise all those remarks which their experience has taught them to make upon the navigation of the Northern Seas: consequently, nothing can be more incorrect than the Chart supplied by the Admiralty for the guidance of a man-of-war in Hudson’s Straits: it absolutely bears no resemblance to the channel of which it is intended to be an exact delineation. During the time we continued in Hudson’s Straits, the Rosamond was entirely piloted by a chart belonging to the chief mate of the Prince of Wales, and one of his own making; yet he was so jealous of his performance, that he was highly offended at our Master’s having endeavoured to take a copy of it; and from thenceforward kept his charts carefully locked up. When I questioned him, with some freedom, on this mysterious conduct, the selfish motive stood at once confessed: he feared lest, from others attaining the same knowledge as himself, they might be induced to enter into the service of the Company, and thereby possibly supplant him in his situation. And such I found to be the motives which induced the majority of these experienced seamen to keep their truly valuable information concealed within their own bosoms. After the foregoing statement, it will be unnecessary to explain my reasons for inserting the very few nautical observations which I was enabled to collect.

August 27th.—Course run, W. S. W. ¼ W. 87 miles.

We continued running all this day across the bay, with a fine leading wind. Our latitude at noon was 59°. 40′. N.

August 28th.—Course run W. S. W. 74 miles.

At noon this day we sounded, and found that we were in eighty fathoms water. About sun-set we observed a large body of ice to windward; our latitude at this time 58°. 56′. N.; and longitude, by chronometer, 89°. 50′. W. It is about this spot that the Hudson’s-Bay ships generally calculate on seeing ice, allowing they meet with it at all.

August 29th.—Course run S. by W. ¼ W. 68 miles.

At 1 A.M. we sounded in sixty-seven fathoms water. At four in the morning, the wind suddenly increased to a violent gale, which died away again at sunset. Our latitude at noon was 58°. 6′. N.; longitude, 90° W. Towards night-fall we sounded in forty-two fathoms, with a muddy bottom; and at the same time we caught an owl and a hawk, which we considered as sure signs of the vicinity of land.

August 30th.—As we were now running in to make the land, I shall insert a Table of the Soundings, taken from the depth of water, which we ascertained last night at sun-set.

Table of Soundings ascertained on the 30th of August, while standing in for the Land to the Southward of York Factory.

As we continued beating to windward, in various soundings, all the forenoon, I shall not mark them down, but proceed to 1 P.M. when Cape Tottenham bore S. by E. five leagues distant.

Table of Soundings ascertained on the 30th of August, while standing in for the Land to the Southward of York Factory;—continued from the preceding page.

Table of Soundings ascertained on the 31st of August, while standing in for the Land to the Southward of York Factory.

At eight in the morning, it will be observed, we were in 8½ fathoms water, on York Flats; and we therefore came to an anchor, with the beacon, at the mouth of York River, bearing S. W. by compass; the land being distant about ten miles, although it could barely be discerned in a blue line above the horizon. Thus, it may be observed, we had been sixty-three days on our voyage; and that it may be compared with other voyages to Hudson’s Bay, I have annexed to this Journal a Schedule[29] of those performed by the Company’s ships since the year 1788; although I have not been able to obtain the dates of their departures from the Orkneys.

By the Sounding Table which I have inserted, it is evident that the depth of water abreast of York River, and off Cape Tottenham, to the southward, is uncommonly regular; and it may therefore be fairly concluded, that, although the western coast of the Bay be very low land, yet there is no great danger in making it.

It is not expected that ships during their return to Europe will ever meet with loose ice[30]: therefore, as soon as our ship anchored on York Flats, we undid all the preparations which had been made for manœuvring whilst amongst the ice; such as, re-stowing our anchors, and putting below ice-ropes, ice-anchors, ice-axes, &c.; and we rejoiced in being rid of them.

The factory was about twenty miles distant from the anchorage of the ship, but not visible. At 10 A.M. I went, therefore, from the ship, to report our arrival to the Governor. We were met at some distance from the ship by a large boat from the factory. It appeared that they had noticed the arrival of the ship; and mistaking her for the Prince of Wales, the boat was immediately despatched for letters, parcels, news, &c. &c. Finding their mistake[31], the boat returned with us to the factory, which we reached about nine at night. On landing, we were hailed by a sentinel; and a guard of honour was drawn out to receive us, with a pair of Highland bagpipes in front. The guard was composed of the traders, boatmen, and others, belonging to the factory: and through the gloom of the night I discerned the Governor and his officers, standing in a group to receive us. After the necessary business of introduction was over, we walked up to a large wooden building, surrounded by a double row of wooden palisades; and here we were regaled with venison steaks and buffalo tongue.

Sept. 1st.—At 2 A.M. the tide answering for our return, we quitted the factory, and reached the vessel again about 8 A.M.

Whilst we were at York Fort, we received information that the factory at Churchill had been burnt to the ground, in the month of November, 1813. The miseries which the people of that place suffered during the remainder of the winter were very great. As there were seventy-three chests of gunpowder in the warehouse at the time the conflagration took place, their whole attention was occupied in removing away the powder to prevent an explosion; and by the most strenuous exertions they succeeded in this undertaking; but the time lost prevented their being able to save a mouthful of provisions, or a single utensil, from the flames. An old out-house that had escaped destruction, and a few tents which they erected of rein-deer skins, served them as habitations during the remainder of the winter; and, as if Providence had taken especial care to provide for their necessities, partridges abounded to a greater degree than had been known for many years before. Of course, these birds proved a seasonable supply to the sufferers; particularly as the partridges are so very tame, that they suffer themselves to be driven into nets, by which means large quantities are taken at one time.

A family in England would be justly esteemed objects of great pity, if they were burnt out of their home in the midst of winter, although many friendly habitations might be humanely opened for their reception. What then, comparatively speaking, must have been the situation of the Churchill people—driven out by the flames in the middle of a November night, on the shores of a frozen ocean, with the thermometer 78° below the freezing point, without any shelter save that of a decayed out-house, no bedding, no cooking utensils, no immediate nourishment, and no final prospect of relief, except from a reliance on the adventitious aid of their fowling-pieces! Such a night must surely be allowed to have had its share of horrors. But heroic strength of mind is the characteristic of the European traders to Hudson’s Bay; and this alone enabled the people of Churchill to escape all the evils attendant on such a calamity.

Towards the evening of this day, the Prince of Wales came to an anchor near us.

Sept. 2d.—In the morning we weighed anchor, and ran into the mouth of the river, otherwise called Five-fathom Hole. It is a very contracted anchorage, and at high water there is not more than three fathoms’ water on the bar. In running in from York Flats, the large beacon must be kept bearing S. W. by W. by compass. To moor the ship, one anchor must be laid up the stream, and another down it; and the width of swinging room at low water does not much exceed four times a ship’s length; having a dry muddy flat on the N. W. and a shoal to the S. E. The water is perfectly fresh, and fit for use, at the last quarter ebb, and first quarter of the flood-tide.

As we lay at this anchorage until the 28th instant, I shall not notice each day separately, but proceed to make such remarks as occurred during our stay; contenting myself with briefly stating, that the Prince of Wales was employed during the time in stowing away her cargo, &c.

The whole of the north-west part of the continent of America is so completely intersected with rivers and lakes, that Mackenzie went the greater part of his journeys by water. York Factory is situated on the bank of a river, which has sometimes been called York River; although it appears that the majority agree in giving it the name of Hayes’ River: but it undergoes many appellations in its course from the Echemamis to the sea. I shall therefore endeavour to describe the river, by tracing a journey from York Factory to Lake Winnepeg, a distance of about five hundred miles: but the fur-traders of Hudson’s-Bay are so well accustomed to the route, that two men in a slight bark canoe will undertake it without the slightest hesitation.

On leaving York Factory, the boats proceed against the stream, without meeting any obstruction, up Hayes’ River, Steel River, and forty miles of Hill River; when they arrive at the first carrying-place, called Rock Portage. The obstructions from henceforward begin to augment; and at every portage, the boat, with her whole cargo, must be carried over land; which is rendered sometimes extremely difficult, by the ground being either rough or swampy.

After passing Rock Portage, the stream is contracted; and there are a number of portages intervening, before the boats can arrive at a broad part of the stream, called Swampy Lake, which contains a number of small islands; and it may be considered as a short half-way to Lake Winnepeg. Leaving Swampy Lake, the stream is again contracted into a narrow slip, called Jack River, in which are four portages. On crossing these, they enter a broader part, intersected by innumerable small islands. This space is styled the Knee Lake, and is sixty miles in length. One of the small islands in the centre of Knee Lake contains so great a quantity of iron ore, as to cause the compass to spin round with uncommon velocity. At the upper end of the lake the stream gradually lessens into another slip, called Trout River, and here are four more portages: then gently extending its boundaries, the river opens on a wide expanse, called Holey Lake, from some deep holes in the bottom of it, and the great inequality of the soundings throughout. At the eastern extremity of this lake stands Oxford House, the first trading port to be met with after leaving the factory. Owing to the richness of the soil, and the geniality of the climate, this place produces a number of excellent vegetables[32].

Proceeding onwards, the boats leave the main body of Holey Lake to the left hand: the stream then suddenly narrows; and after passing four more carrying-places, the last of which is called Hill’s Portage, there is a clear space, until a sudden serpentine bend in the river forms the White-fall. The current now begins to be very weak; and a little farther on, they enter a narrow part with still water. This spot is the highest part of the land between Lake Winnepeg and Hudson’s Bay; and Hayes’ River may, perhaps, be said to take its rise about seven miles to the southward of it, in a small lake called Winnepegosis. The boats now meet with a singular rock, which, from some curious Indian paintings once found there, has since been called the Painted Stone. Over this rock the boat must be dragged, and again launched on the opposite side, into a long, narrow, boggy slip of water, called the Echemamis. After emerging from this strait, the current of the river begins to operate in favour of the boats; and this proves that the Echemamis is a small river, taking its rise in the morasses about the Painted Stone, and having no connection with the river which leads from the Painted Stone towards the sea. The Echemamis is, however, lost at a short distance from its source; as after the boats pass Hairy Lake, the stream falls into the Sea River; and there is a portage at their junction, called the Sea River carrying-place. The Sea River is a branch of the great Nelson River, separated from the main stream at the Play-green Lake, and rejoining it by a creek that opens near Hairy Lake.

The boats go against the current up the Sea River; and passing the little Cross Lake and Pike River, they reach Winnepeg, through the Play-green Lake. This last is a wide body of water, covered with islands; and may properly be said to be merely a part of Nelson River, which holds its course from the Stony Mountains to Hudson’s Bay. The rough course from York Factory to Lake Winnepeg is about south-west; but the Nelson River makes a great angle between Winnepeg and the sea; as it first runs off N. N. E.; and then takes its course, due E. N. E. to Hudson’s Bay, where it empties itself by the side of Hayes’ River[33].

The labour of getting the boats up these rivers is amazingly great: their crews encamp on the banks every night; and they generally land also to cook their meals, except when they are compelled to subsist on pemmican, a sort of dried, husky compound, composed of pounded venison and deer’s fat mixed together. This species of food is extremely nutritious: it requires no cooking, and is sometimes rendered more palatable by the addition of berries.

There are many kinds of wood growing on the banks of the rivers, and indeed the whole of the interior near the sea is covered with it: but in the country about Lake Winnepeg there are very few trees, and the inhabitants are therefore compelled to use the dung of the buffalo for fuel. Both buffaloes and horses abound in the open country. The woods on the coast are principally composed of dwarf poplars, larches, and all the varieties of the pine species.

Having thus described the communication by water between Lake Winnepeg and York Factory, I shall conclude with a statement of the respective distances.

It must be allowed, that the above is a mere rough statement of an old trader, who had been accustomed to traversing the route for nearly twenty years.

Nelson River is a much more noble stream than Hayes’ River, with respect to its navigation, extending about twenty miles from the sea; but from thenceforward it becomes so full of obstructions, from portages, falls, and rapids, that the Company have been compelled to establish their factory upon, and give a decided preference to, Hayes’ River, although they have an establishment or two for trade on the former. The Nelson River takes its rise, according to M^cKenzie, in the Stony Mountains; and empties itself into Hudson’s Bay, at the same place as Hayes’ River. It is only divided from the latter, at the mouth, by a very low cape, called Point of Marsh, upon which an exceeding high wooden beacon has been erected by the Company, to enable their ships to distinguish the mouth of the river. The continual washing of the waters on either side of the Point of Marsh has enabled the sea to encroach a great deal on the land, and thereby created many dangerous shoals in the mouths of the rivers: the navigation has, by these means, been rendered extremely contracted and difficult. The breaking up of the rivers in the spring tends also, in a great measure, to increase these evils: for, in the first place, the ice being driven towards the sea with an amazing velocity, it carries every thing forcibly away, and causes a general ruin upon the banks, by cutting down large bodies of earth, and hurling trees and rocks from their places. In the second place, it frequently happens that immense stones lying at the bottom of the rivers become fixed into the ice during the winter, and the freshes, in the spring, consequently bear them away towards the sea; but the ice not being able to sustain their ponderous weight for any length of time, it naturally occurs, that those masses become disengaged, and are deposited at the mouths of the rivers, where they not only incommode the passages, but likewise injure the ships’ cables by their friction.