ving the place, with its
environs, deeply indented shore and rugged spits of red granite, the
quaint appearance of some secluded fishing village on the Gulf of
St. Lawrence.

In sight, but above the bay, was the trading-post of Colin Fraser,
whose father, the McCrimmon of the North-West, was Sir George
Simpson's piper. The late Chief-factor Camsell, of Fort Simpson,
and myself paddled up to it, and were most hospitably entertained
by Mr. Fraser and his agreeable family. His father's bagpipes,
still in excellent order, were speedily brought out, and it was
interesting to handle them, for they had heralded the approach of
the autocratic little Governor to many an inland post from Hudson's
Bay to Fraser River, over seventy years before.

Several days were spent at the fort taking declarations, but,
unlike Vermilion or Dunvegan, there were few large families here,
the applicants being mainly young people. The agricultural resources
of this region of rocks are certainly meagre compared with those of
Peace River. Potatoes, where there is any available soil, grow to
a good size; barley was nearly ripe when we were there, and wheat
ripens, too. But, of course, it is not a farming region, nor are
fish plentiful at the west end of the lake, the Athabasca River,
which enters there, giving for over twenty miles eastward a muddy
hue to the water. The rest of the lake is crystal clear, and
whitefish are plentiful, also lake trout, which are caught up to
thirty, and even forty, pounds' weight.

The distance from Fort Chipewyan to Fond du Lac is about 185 miles,
but the lake extends over 75 miles farther eastward in a narrow arm,
giving a total length of about 300 miles, the greatest width being
about 50 miles. The whole eastern portion of the lake is a desolate
scene of primitive rock and scrub pine, with many quartz exposures,
which are probably mineralized, but with no land, not even for
a garden. The scenery, however, from Black Bay to Fond du Lac
is very beautiful, consisting largely of islands as diversified
and as numerous as the Thousand Islands in the St. Lawrence.
These extremely solitary spots should be, one would think, the
breeding-grounds of the pelican, though it is said this bird really
breeds on islands in the Great Slave River. If disturbed by man it
is reputed to destroy its young and desert the place at once.

The Barren Ground reindeer migrate to the east end of this lake
in October, and return in March or Ap