great many
islands. Shores are broken. The river or lake is about
three-quarters of a mile to three miles wide. At 2.40 in the
afternoon we got into what they call the Mackenzie River
proper. It is only about a half to three-quarters of a mile
wide. It is bold and clearer than the other waters we have
been traveling on.

"Late in the evening reached the shores of Fort Providence,
a very sightly spot. The mission school formed their
red-clad girls in a platoon on the bank, waiting for us.
Every girl had her hands folded in front of her. The boys
were in ranks, too. They wore a gray uniform. The balcony of
the building back of them was filled with the older girls
and with the Sisters in a dark sort of uniform. All the
flags were flying. The sun was very bright. This made a
striking picture. Crowds of Indians came and sat on the
bank, waiting for us to land. A good many tepees on the flat
ground. There is a mission garden in a stockade, the best
garden we have yet seen. Here there are many onions,
potatoes, rhubarb, and a hedge of rose-bushes--a very
beautiful sight in this far land, and one I did not think we
would find.

"A good many men on the boat are trading with the Indians
for bead-work. A pair of moccasins is worth from a dollar to
a dollar and a half. One man bought the leggings of a squaw
and _off_ the squaw--for she was wearing them when he bought
them. They say the trade situation here is bad--too much
competition. Independents sometimes pay three hundred
dollars for a silver-gray fox, which is only worth a hundred
and twenty-five. The people here are Slavies, and are not
much good. The post was out of goods when we got in, and had
mighty little fur to send out, too. Indian village starving,
living on rabbits and dried fish. No fish running now. These
people seem a lazy lot.

"At Fort Resolution there were Chippewyans, Dog Ribs,
Slavies, and Yellow Knives, all mixed. At Hay River there
were Dog Ribs and Slavies. At Providence they are all
Slavies, and the Indian commissioner says they are the worst
lot on the whole river. Independent traders very angry here
because their clerks have not made any money.

"_Thursday, July 3d._--On the Mackenzie. Reached the 'head
of the line'--that is, the country where