BOURGEOIS - Toronto Public Library

LETTERS 139
.entrusted to me. Six hunters of the Red Knife or Copper Indians
have been found sufficieut to supply us wilh the means of
.subsistance. Indeed it was scarcely possible for people to want
where the Rein-deers are in thousands and not difficult to
approach; so little skill in hunting does it require that any man
who can level a fire arm would live with little trouble or care.
Our house stands on the borders of the last woods, our future
march will conseqnently be directed through a barren country,
broken by stony hills, intersected by numerous lakes and deprived
of all vegetation, excepting a few crowberry plants and
1he mosses which afford nourishment to the immense herds of
rein-deer that crowd the moun tains.
This season is considered by residents in the country to have Intense
been very mild, yet in the month of December the thermometer cold.
·descended to fifty-seven and a half degrees below zero, since
that it did not sink below forty-nine. The Officers have visited
.Coppermine River and report it to be a large stream distant
fifty-six miles from hence, and our dwelling is found by observation
to be one hundred and thirty-three geographical miles from
the borders of Greal Slave Lake. The instruments which form
the equipment of the party are sextants, two azimuthal compasses,
)Jesides pocket compasses, dipping needles and a transit instrument,
spy glasses, paint.s, &c. Each Officer, as well as Doctor
Richardson, keeps a journal, all of which must be punctually
given in to the Secretary or Admiralty office. As to myself, I
keep none, since I cannot be allowed to retain it. Our Commander
reads Divine service regularly every Sunday, and all
who feel inclined attend. This is a novelty in these parts, and
.highly merits to be copied by those who reside in the country.
By letters which I received last Fall from Fort Chipweyan, I
.am sorry to say that serious apprehensions are entertained for
the fate of Mr. John Stuart and the Canadians forming his party .
. He had been despatched from Fort William with three canoes