ding away a party of men, he
came to inform me that he would appoint two hunters to accompany them,
and at the same time requested that Dr. Richardson, or as he called him,
the Medicine Chief, might be sent with his own band. These Indians set a
great value upon medicine, and made many demands upon Dr. Richardson on
the prospect of his departure. He had to make up little packets, of the
different articles in his chest, not only for the leader, but for each
of the minor chiefs, who carefully placed them in their medicine bags,
noting in their memories the directions he gave for their use. The
readiness with which their requests for medical assistance were complied
with, was considered by them as a strong mark of our good intentions
towards them; and the leader often remarked, that they owed much to our
kindness in that respect; that formerly numbers had died every year, but
that not a life had been lost since our arrival amongst them. In the
present instance, however, the leader's request could not be complied
with. Dr. Richardson had volunteered to conduct the first party to the
Copper-Mine River, whilst the rest of the officers remained with me to
the last moment, to complete our astronomical observations at the
house. He, therefore, informed the leader that he would remain
stationary at Point Lake until the arrival of the whole party, where he
might be easily consulted if any of his people fell sick, as it was in
the neighbourhood of their hunting-grounds.

On the 2nd the stores were packed up in proper-sized bales for the
journey. I had intended to send the canoes by the first party, but they
were not yet repaired, the weather not being sufficiently warm for the
men to work constantly at them, without the hazard of breaking the bark.
This day one of the new trading guns, which we had recently received
from Fort Chipewyan, burst in the hands of a young Indian; fortunately,
however, without doing him any material injury. This was the sixth
accident of the kind which had occurred since our departure from Slave
Lake. Surely this deficiency in the quality of the guns, which hazards
the lives of so many poor Indians, requires the serious consideration of
the principals of the trading Companies.

On the 4th, at three in the morning, the party under the charge of Dr.
Richardson started. It consisted of fifteen voyagers, three of them
conducting dog sledges, Baldhead and Basil, two Indian hunters with
their wives, Akaiyazzeh