Of which gave for
its longitude 111 degrees 18 minutes 20 seconds West, its latitude was
observed to be 58 degrees 42 minutes 38 seconds North, and the variation
of the compass 22 degrees 49 minutes 32 seconds East. Fresh rates were
procured for the chronometers and their errors determined for Greenwich
time by which the survey to the northward was carried on.
CHAPTER 6.
MR. HOOD'S JOURNEY TO THE BASQUIAU HILL.
SOJOURNS WITH AN INDIAN PARTY.
HIS JOURNEY TO CHIPEWYAN.
MR. HOOD'S JOURNEY TO THE BASQUIAU HILL.
March, 1820.
Being desirous of obtaining a drawing of a moose-deer, and also of making
some observation on the height of the Aurora Borealis, I set out on the
23rd to pass a few days at the Basquiau Hill. Two men accompanied me with
dogs and sledges who were going to the hill for meat. We found the
Saskatchewan open and were obliged to follow it several miles to the
eastward. We did not then cross it without wading in water which had
overflowed the ice, and our snowshoes were encumbered with a heavy weight
for the remainder of the day. On the south bank of the Saskatchewan were
some poplars ten or twelve feet in circumference at the root. Beyond the
river we traversed an extensive swamp bounded by woods. In the evening we
crossed the Swan Lake, about six miles in breadth and eight in length,
and halted on its south side for the night, twenty-four miles
South-South-West of Cumberland House.
At four in the morning of the 24th we continued the journey and crossed
some creeks in the woods and another large swamp. These swamps are
covered with water in summer to the depth of several feet which arises
from the melted snow from the higher grounds. The tracks of foxes,
wolves, wolverines and martens were very numerous. The people employed in
carrying meat set traps on their way out and take possession of their
captures at their return, for which they receive a sum from the Company
proportioned to the value of the fur.
In the evening we crossed the Goose Lake which is a little longer than
Swan Lake and afterwards the river Sepanach, a branch of the Saskatchewan
forming an island extending thirty miles above and forty below Cumberland
House. We turned to the westward on the Root River which enters the
Sepanach and halted on its banks, having made in direct distance not more
than twenty miles since the 23rd.
We passed the Shoal Lake on the 25th and then marched twelve miles
through woods and swamps to a hunting tent of the Indians. It was
situated in a grove of large poplars and would have been no unpleasant
residence if we could have avoided the smoke. A heavy gale from the
westward with snow confined us for several days to this tent.
