Page:Narrative of the Discoveries on the North Coast of America.djvu/110

 On the 23rd the Peace River boats reached "English Island" and their cargoes were carried by land to the establishment, a distance of two miles.

On the 25th, Chief Factor M'Leod arrived with the canoes from Fort Resolution. This gentleman, already known to the public as Sir George Back's intrepid assistant at Great Slave Lake, volunteered, in the handsomest manner, to conduct a party of Chipewyans to meet us at the mouth of the Great Fish River in August 1838. Circumstances, however, prevented our availing ourselves of his gallant proposal; and, without the aid of an experienced officer, it would have been vain to attempt, through Indians, making any deposit of provisions, &c., at Lake Beechey, as suggested in our instructions.

From the mean of a great number of observations, I deduced the position of Fort Chipewyan, which accords well with the results in Sir John Franklin's first and second journeys. Lat. 68° 42′ 38″ N.; long. 111° 18′ 32″ W. The variation, by several sets of azimuths, was 26° 6′ 23″ E., showing an increase of 36′ 46″ since 1825, or about three minutes per annum.

Our sea-boats were now finished. They were light clinker-built craft, of twenty-four feet keel and six feet beam, furnished with wash-boards,