Seexing Pound's Outlet. ---41

was built, and afterwards known as (old) Fort Providence.
He had left the latter place in March to join Mackenzie
at Fort Chipewyan. ,

It was observed that the channel in five miles was exceed-
ingly shallow, the depth of water being nowhere more
than three feet, and the canoes were consequently often
aground,

“Here we found our people who had arrived early in
the morning and whom we had not seen since the preceding
Sunday. We now unloaded the canoe and pitched our tents,
as there was every appearance that we should be obliged to
remain here for some time. I then ordered the nets to be
set as it was absolutely necessary that the stores provided
for our future voyage should remain untouched, The fish
we now caught were carp, pozsson inconnu, whitefish and
trout.” ;

A heavy rain on Wednesday night weakened the ice. A
hunting party was sent out to a lake nine miles away, and
“the women were employed in gathering berries of different
sorts of which there was a great plenty. I accompanied one
of my people to a small adjacent island where we picked up
some dozens of swan, geese and duck eggs; we also killed a
couple of ducks and a goose. The weather was fine and
clear, with a strong westerly wind. The ice moved a little
to the westward.”

‘The ice moved again the following day in the same direc-
tion and Mackenzie ascended a hill but could not perceive
that it was broken in the middle of the lake. The mosquitoes
appeared again in great numbers. On Saturday a northerly
wind drove the ice, now much broken, along the shore,
covering the nets.

“One of the hunters returned from Slave River with
three beavers and fourteen geese. He was accompanied