OF THE FUR TRADE, &c. Ixxxvii

commonly called by the white people, the Athabafca River, in latitude
56. 42. North. ;

At a {mall diftance from Portage la Loche, feveral carrying-places in-
terrupt the navigation of the river ; about the middle of which are fome
mineral {prings, whofe margins are covered with fulphureous incrufta-
tions. At the junétion or fork, the Elk River is about three quarters of
a mile in breadth, and runs in a fteady current, fometimes contraéting,
but never increafing its channel, till, after receiving feveral fmall {treams,
it difcharges itfelf into the Lake of the Hills, in latitude 58. 36. North.
At about twenty-four miles from the Fork, are fome bitumenous foun-
tains, into which a pole of twenty feet long may be inferted without the
leaft refiftance. The bitumen is in a fluid flate, and when mixed with
gum, or the refinous fubftance collected from the fpruce fir, ferves to
gum the canoes. In its heated ftate it emits a {mell like that of fea-coal.
The banks of the river, which are there very elevated, difcover veins of
the fame bitumenous quality, At a {mall diftance from the Fork, houfes
have been ereéted for the convenience of trading with a party of the
Knifteneaux, who vifit the adjacent country for the purpofe of hunting.

At the diftance of about forty miles from the lake, is the Old Efta-
blifhment, which has been already mentioned, as formed by Mr. Pond
in the year 1778-9, and which was the only one in this part of the world,
till the year 1785. In the year 1788, it was transferred to the Lake of
the Hills, and formed on a point on its Southern fide, at about eight
miles from the difcharge of the river. It was named Fort Chepewyan,
and is in latitude 58. 38, North, longitude 110, 26, Weft, and much

better