Fort Chipewyan was too much
impoverished to supply the wants of the Expedition and we found Isle a la
Crosse in the same condition; which indeed we might have foreseen from
the exhausted state of Cumberland House but could not have provided
against. We never had heard before our departure from York that the posts
in the interior only received annually the stores necessary for the
consumption of a single year. It was fortunate for us that Mr. Franklin
had desired ten bags of pemmican to be sent from the Saskatchewan across
the plains to Isle a la Crosse for our use. This resource was untouched
but we could not embark more than five pieces in our own canoes. However
Mr. McLeod agreed to send a canoe after us to the Methye Portage with the
pemmican, and we calculated that the diminution of our provision would
there enable us to receive it.

The Beaver River enters this lake on the South-East side, and another
river which has not been named on the South-West. Both these rivers are
branches of the Missinippi as it is the only outlet from the lake. The
banks appeared to be rocky and the beach in many places sandy but its
waters are yellow and muddy. It produces a variety of fish among which
its white-fish are esteemed the best in the country. The only birds
visible at this season are common to every part of the Missinippi; gulls,
ducks, pigeons, goatsuckers, and the raven; and geese and swans pay a
momentary visit in passing to the north and returning.

There was little in the forts differing from the establishments that we
had before seen. The ground on which they are erected is sandy and
favourable to cultivation. Curiosity however was satisfied by the first
experiment and utility alone has been unable to extend it. Isle a la
Crosse is frequented by the Crees and the Chipewyans. It is not the dread
of the Indians but of one another that has brought the rival Companies so
close together at every trading post, each party seeking to prevent the
other from engaging the affections of the natives and monopolising the
trade. Whenever a settlement is made by the one the other immediately
follows, without considering the eligibility of the place, for it may
injure its opponent though it cannot benefit itself, and that advantage,
which is the first object of all other commercial bodies, becomes but the
second with the fur traders.

On the evening of the 30th we embarked and entered a wide channel to the
northward of the forts and