Page:Narrative of the Discoveries on the North Coast of America.djvu/280

250 and rage; but he soon fell pierced with bullets. We found his flesh very good. A pair of large white wolves were prowling about the river; and the ravages of the barren-ground bear (ursus arctos) were observed in several places. Beyond this the stream divides into four branches, of which we chose the largest, flowing from the northward through a sterile waste. It is a mere sandy rivulet; in some places a fathom deep, in others not a foot. At length angular granite rocks began to project from the bottom; and at 8 P.M. we encamped at the foot of a succession of stony rapids.

All next day we were detained by a storm of wind, snow, and rain. I noticed the first moss in flower, its lowly blossoms flourishing unharmed amidst the war of the elements. The few dwarf withered spruces within reach of our encampment were expended in firing.

In the forenoon of the 12th the storm abated, and we resumed our route. In ten hours we advanced six miles, nearly half of which was portage-work, with a fine level reindeer path following the windings of the brook. This brought us to the little lake which I had in the winter fixed upon for the commencement of the portage across the height of land. Up to this point, which is not far from its source, Dease