14 Mackenzie’s Voyages

by that name], about forty miles from the Lake of the
Hills [Lake Athabasca], into which it empties itself.”
Following his instructions Pond crossed over to the
Churchill at Frog Portage, and ascended the river to Ile a
la Crosse, whence he paddled through Clear and Buffalo
Lakes and up the La Loche River. From this point he crossed
the thirteen-mile divide called then Portage La Loche and
since known throughout the west as Methye Portage, which
leads to the Clearwater River, a branch of the Athabasca.
Pond was the first white man to cross over from the drainage
basin of the Churchill to the Arctic watershed, For a hundred
years after his time this canoe route to the North Country
was used by thousands, including many who afterwards
attained fame in exploration and literature. Among the out-
standing names are found those of Sir Alexander Mackenzie,
Philip Turner, the astronomer, Sir John Franklin, Sir
John Richardson, Sir John Rae, Sir George Back, Sir W. F.
Butler, Bishop Tache, Governor Simpson, David Harmon,
David Thompson, Simon Fraser, and Sir James Douglas,
the majority of whom penned graphic pictures of the beauty
of the scene. Mackenzie’s description has been quoted
frequently. He says: ““The Portage La Loche is of a level
surface, in some parts abounding in stones, but in general
it is an entire sand, and covered with the cypress, the pine,
the spruce-fir, and other trees natural to the soil. Within a
mile of the termination of the Portage isa very steep precipice,
whose ascent and descent appears to be equally impracticable
in any way, as it consists of a succession of eight hills, some of
which are almost perpendicular; nevertheless, the Canadians
contrive to surmount all these difficulties, even with their
canoes and lading. This precipice which rises upwards of a
thousand feet above the plain beneath it, commands a most
extensive, romantic, and ravishing prospect. From thence