rested at hearing a shrill sound, which was supposed to
be a human voice; but on landing to ascertain the fact, we could find no
person, nor any footsteps. We, therefore, continued our journey. As we
proceeded, the river became more devious in its course, the huts on the
Esquimaux were now more frequent; none of them, however, seemed to have
been recently inhabited. The islands were of the same alluvial kind as
those seen yesterday, and the wood on them equally plentiful and large.
We stopped to sup at nine, extinguished the fire as soon as we had
finished, and then retired to sleep in the boat, keeping two men on
guard.

[Sidenote: Sunday, 14th.] We set off aided by a fresh breeze this
morning, and at the end of seven miles came to the last of the fir
trees, in latitude 68 degrees 40 minutes N., the only wood beyond this
being stunted willows, which became still more dwarfish at thirty miles
from the mouth of the river. There was plenty of drift-wood on the
borders of the islands, and some even on the higher parts, at a distance
from the water; from which it would appear that at certain seasons they
are inundated. At length the main stream took a turn to the S.S.W.,
which we followed, though there was a branch northwards, but it seemed
to be much impeded by mud-banks.[1] At the end of eight miles the river
again inclined to the north of west, round the southern extremity of
Halkett island, and there were openings to the north and south, which we
did not stop to examine. A fog-bank hung over the northern horizon,
which gave us no little uneasiness, from its strong resemblance to a
continuous line of ice-blink; and the clouds, from the sun-beams falling
on them, had the exact appearance of icebergs. However, the sun became
sufficiently powerful in the afternoon to dissipate the cause of this
illusion, and relieve us from anxiety on that score. A body of water,
nearly equal to that we were descending, poured in between the Colville
and Halkett islands with such force as to cause a very strong ripple at
the point of junction, which we avoided by keeping close to the shore of
Langley island. The channel, after the union of these streams, increased
to a breadth of two miles, preserving a N.N.W. course. We stood twelve
miles in this direction, and two to the westward, when we were gratified
by the delightful prospect of the shore suddenly diverging, and a wide
space of open water to the northward, which we doubted not would pr