Possible from Fort
Providence or the other Forts in Slave Lake, and send it immediately to
them by the hunters who accompanied him thither. I also requested him to
ascertain from Akaitcho and the other leading Indians where their
different parties would be hunting in the months of September and
October, and to leave this information in a letter at Fort Enterprise for
our guidance in finding them, as we should require their assistance. Mr.
Wentzel was furnished with a list of the stores that had been promised to
Akaitcho and his party as a remuneration for their services, as well as
with an official request to the North-West Company that these goods might
be paid to them on their next visit to Fort Providence, which they
expected to make in the latter part of November. I desired him to mention
this circumstance to the Indians as an encouragement to exertion in our
behalf and to promise them an additional reward for the supply of
provision they should collect at Fort Enterprise.
If Mr. Wentzel met the Hook or any of his party he was instructed to
assure them that he was provided with the necessary documents to get them
payment for any meat they should put en cache for our use, and to
acquaint them that we fully relied on their fulfilling every part of the
agreement they had made with us. Whenever the Indians, whom he was to
join at the Copper Mountains, killed any animals on their way to Fort
Enterprise, he was requested to put en cache whatever meat could be
spared, placing conspicuous marks to guide us to them, and I particularly
begged he would employ them in hunting in our service immediately after
his arrival at the house.
When Mr. Wentzel's party had been supplied with ammunition our remaining
stock consisted of one thousand balls and rather more than the requisite
proportion of powder. A bag of small shot was missing and we afterwards
discovered that the Canadians had secreted and distributed it among
themselves in order that when provision should become scarce they might
privately procure ducks and geese and avoid the necessity of sharing them
with the officers.
The situation of our encampment was ascertained to be latitude 67 degrees
47 minutes 50 seconds North, longitude 115 degrees 36 minutes 49 seconds
West, the variation of the compass 46 degrees 25 minutes 52 seconds East,
and dip of the needle 88 degrees 5 minutes 07 seconds.
It will be perceived that the position of the mouth of the river given by
our observations differs widely from that assigned by Mr. Hearne, but the
accuracy of his description, conjoined with Indian information, assured
us that we were at the very part he visited.
