On the 10th we recommenced our journey after breakfast and travelled quickly as we had the advantage of a well-beaten track.  At the end of eighteen miles we entered upon the river Loche which has a serpentine course and is confined between alluvial banks that support stunted willows and a few pines; we encamped about three miles farther on and in the course of the next day’s march perceived several holes on the ice and many unsafe places for the sledges.  Our companions said the ice of this river is always in the same insecure state, even during the most severe winter, which they attributed to warm springs.  Quitting the river we crossed a portage and came upon the Methye Lake and soon afterwards arrived at the trading posts on its western side.  These were perfect huts which had been hastily built after the commencement of the last winter.  We here saw two hunters who were Chipewyan half-breeds and made many inquiries of them respecting the countries we expected to visit, but we found them quite ignorant of every part beyond the Athabasca Lake.  They spoke of Mr. Hearne and of his companion Matonnabee, but did not add to our stock of information respecting that journey.  It had happened before their birth but they remembered the expedition of Sir Alexander Mackenzie towards the sea.

This is a picturesque lake about ten miles long and six broad and receives its name from a species of fish caught in it but not much esteemed; the residents never eat any part but the liver except through necessity, the dogs dislike even that.  The tittameg and trout are also caught in the fall of the year.  The position of the houses by our observations is latitude 56 degrees 24 minutes 20 seconds North, longitude 109 degrees 23 minutes 06 seconds West, variation 22 degrees 50 minutes 28 seconds East.

On the 13th we renewed our journey and parted from Mr. Clark to whom we were much obliged for his hospitality and kindness.  We soon reached the Methye Portage and had a very pleasant ride across it in our carioles.  The track was good and led through groups of pines, so happily placed that it would not have required a great stretch of imagination to fancy ourselves in a well-arranged park.  We had now to cross a small lake and then gradually ascended hills beyond it until we arrived at the summit of a lofty chain of mountains commanding the most picturesque and romantic prospect we had yet seen in this country.  Two ranges of high hills run parallel to each other for several miles until the faint blue haze hides their particular characters, when they slightly change their course and are lost to the view.  The space between them is occupied by nearly a level plain through which a river pursues a meandering course and receives supplies from the creeks and rills issuing from the mountains on each side.  The prospect was delightful even amid the snow and though marked with all the cheerless characters of winter; how much more charming must it be when the trees are in leaf and the ground is