In the afternoon they brought us the agreeable intelligence of having killed eight cows, of which four were full-grown.  All the party were immediately despatched to bring in this seasonable supply.  A young cow, irritated by the firing of the hunters, ran down to the river and passed close to me when walking at a short distance from the tents.  I fired and wounded it, when the animal instantly turned and ran at me, but I avoided its fury by jumping aside and getting upon an elevated piece of ground.  In the meantime some people came from the tents and it took to flight.

The musk-oxen, like the buffalo, herd together in bands and generally frequent the barren grounds during the summer months, keeping near the rivers, but retire to the woods in winter.  They seem to be less watchful than most other wild animals and, when grazing, are not difficult to approach provided the hunters go against the wind; when two or three men get so near a herd as to fire at them from different points these animals, instead of separating or running away, huddle closer together and several are generally killed; but if the wound is not mortal they become enraged and dart in the most furious manner at the hunters, who must be very dextrous to evade them.  They can defend themselves by their powerful horns against the wolves and bears which, as the Indians say, they not unfrequently kill.

The musk-oxen feed on the same substances with the reindeer, and the prints of the feet of these two animals are so much alike that it requires the eye of an experienced hunter to distinguish them.  The largest killed by us did not exceed in weight three hundred pounds.  The flesh has a musky disagreeable flavour, particularly when the animal is lean which, unfortunately for us, was the case with all that we now killed.

During this day’s march the river varied in breadth from one hundred to two hundred feet, and except in two open spaces a very strong current marked a deep descent the whole way.  It flows over a bed of gravel, of which also its immediate banks are composed.  Near to our encampment it is bounded by cliffs of fine sand from one hundred to two hundred feet high.  Sandy plains extend on a level with the summit of these cliffs, and at the distance of six or seven miles are terminated by ranges of hills eight hundred or one thousand feet high.  The grass on these plains affords excellent pasturage for the musk-oxen and they generally abound here.  The hunters added two more to our stock in the course of the night.  As we had now more meat than the party could consume fresh we delayed our voyage next day to dry it.  The hunters were supplied with more ammunition and sent forward; but Akaitcho, his brother, and another Indian remained with us.

It may here be proper to mention that the officers had treated Akaitcho more distantly since our departure from Point Lake, to mark their opinion of his misconduct.  The diligence in hunting however which he had evinced at this place induced us to receive him more familiarly when he came to the tent this evening.  During our conversation he endeavoured to excite suspicions in our minds against the Hook by saying, “I am aware that you consider me the worst man of my nation; but I know the Hook to be a great rogue and I think he will disappoint you.”