At this place we first perceived the north end of our
dipping-needle to pass the perpendicular line when the instrument was
faced to the west.
We had scarcely quitted the encampment next day before an Indian met us
with the agreeable communication that the hunters had made several fires
which were certain indications of their having killed reindeer. This
intelligence inspired our companions with fresh energy and they quickly
traversed the next portage and paddled through the Reindeer Lake; at the
north side of it we found the canoes of our hunters and learned from our
guide that the Indians usually leave their canoes here as the water
communication on their hunting grounds is bad. The Yellow-Knife River had
now dwindled into an insignificant rivulet and we could not trace it
beyond the next lake except as a mere brook. The latitude of its source
64 degrees 1 minute 30 seconds North, longitude 113 degrees 36 minutes 00
seconds West, and its length is one hundred and fifty-six statute miles.
Though this river is of sufficient breadth and depth for navigating in
canoes yet I conceive its course is too much interrupted by cascades and
rapids for its ever being used as a channel for the conveyance of
merchandise. Whilst the crews were employed in making a portage over the
foot of Prospect Hill we ascended to the top of it and, as it is the
highest ground in the neighbourhood, its summit, which is about five
hundred feet above the water, commands an extensive view.
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