Tue VoyaGE To THE ARCTIC By

for latitude which showed him that he was
further north than he had expected; and in
consequence he came at last to the definite
conclusion that the ocean at the river’s mouth
was the Arctic and not the Pacific, and that
he was therefore destined to fail in the main
object of his journey.

They camped that night on an island in
the delta, and the Indians renewed their pro-
tests against going further. Indeed, with
every day’s progress to the north it became
less likely that they would be able to return
to Chipewyan before winter began. Macken-
zie was resolved to push on, but the shortage
of food together with the complaints of the
English Chief led him to promise that he
would limit his further journey to seven days.
That evening he sat up to watch the sun,
which shone all night. Next day they reached
some deserted Eskimo huts, and examined
them and their contents with interest; no
Eskimos, however, were seen here or else-
where, though they found fresh foot-prints
more than once. ‘The islands of the delta

oe

through which they were paddling were ‘‘so