Page:Narrative of the Discoveries on the North Coast of America.djvu/276

246 the lake, the ice was still from four to five feet thick.

In the forenoon of the 7th was commenced the ascent of Dease River; the weather clear, but cold. The navigation proved a succession of rapids; and the banks, obstructed by willows and other trees, rendered the tracking very la- borious. We encamped at a place where the stream has forced its way through a precipitous chasm, leaving a detached rock in the midst, to which our Orkney-men gave the name of "The Old Man of Hoy." Several large hawks and a numerous colony of swallows occupied the cliffs. The latter birds we afterwards found in a similar situation at the mouth of Kendall River. As they are never seen at Fort Confidence, it is probable that, in their passage northward, they avoid the frozen expanse of Great Bear Lake altogether, and make straight for their accustomed rocky haunts.

8th.—The fatigue of ascending the rapids, often waistdeep in the water, was aggravated by a hard frost and a piercing head wind. As we advanced, however, we found a good deal of still water, where the oars could be used. Enormous drifts of snow clung to the banks. In one place a fallen fragment had grounded in mid-stream, forming a temporary islet, upon which stood an