OF THE FUR DRADE, kc. CXV

boundary I fhall defcribe*. It begins at Churchill, and runs along the
line of feparation between them and the Knifteneaux, up the Miffinipi to
the Ifle a la Croffe, paffing on through the Buffalo Lake, River Lake,
and Portage la Loche: from thence it proceeds by the Elk River to
the Lake of the Hills, and goes direétly Weft to the Peace River; and
up that river to its fource and tributary waters; from whence it pro-
ceeds to the waters of the river Columbia; and follows that river to
latitude 52. 24. North, and longitude 122. 54. Weft, where the Chepe-
wyans have the Atnah or Chin Nation for theirneighbours. Itthen takes
a line due Weft to the fea-coaft, within which, the country is poffeffed by
a people who fpeak their languaget, and are confequently defcended
from them: there can be no doubt, therefore, of their progrefs being to
the Eaftward. A tribe of them is even known at the upper eftablifhments
on the Safkatchiwine; and I do not pretend to afcertain how far they
may follow the Rocky Mountains to the Eaft.

It is not poffible to form any juft eftimate of their numbers, but it is
apparent, neverthelefs, that they are by no means proportionate to the
vaft extent of their territories, which may, in fome degree, be attributed

to the ravages of the {mall pox, which are, more or lefs, evident
thoughout this part of the continent. °

The notion which thefe people entertain of the creation, is of a very

* Thofe of them who come to trade with us, do not exceed eight hundred men, and have a
fmattering of the Knifteneaux tongue, in which they carry on their dealings with us.

+ The coaft is inhabited on the North-Weft by, the Efkimanx, and on the Pacific Ocean by a
people different from both.

fingular