The Variation Of The Compass Is 25 Degrees
40 Minutes 47 Seconds East.
The houses of the two Companies are small and
have a bleak northern aspect.
There are vast accumulations of driftwood
on the shores of the lake, brought down by the river, which afford plenty
of fuel. The inhabitants live principally on the fish, which the lake at
certain seasons furnishes in great abundance; of these the white-fish,
trout, and poisson inconnu are considered the best. They also procure
moose, buffalo, and reindeer meat occasionally from their hunters; but
these animals are generally found at the distance of several days' walk
from the forts. The Indians who trade here are Chipewyans. Beavers,
martens, foxes, and muskrats are caught in numbers in the vicinity of
this great body of water. The mosquitoes here were still a serious
annoyance to us but less numerous than before. They were in some degree
replaced by a small sandfly, whose bite is succeeded by a copious flow of
blood and considerable swelling but is attended with incomparably less
irritation than the puncture of the mosquito.
On the 27th of July we embarked at four A.M. and proceeded along the
south shore of the lake through a narrow channel, formed by some islands,
beyond the confluence of the principal branch of the Slave River; and as
far as Stony Island, where we breakfasted. This island is merely a rock
of gneiss that rises forty or fifty feet above the lake and is
precipitous on the north side.
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