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Show t 8+ TRAVELS Till OUGII LOVER CANADA: to the ,;' kc of the Woocl ,, and for 1t1ndrcds of md ; beyond it, throng 1 L al·c \Vinni pc~~' & . The canoc.s, h w vcr, whi,·h g ~> f.".r up the country, never rctnm the f:tmc ) car; th 1<..: intended to bring b: ck car , c immc liatCly, flnp at the (;r:l.lld Porta~~e, '~ h er the furs :1rc collea . ready for th m by the ag 'n ts of the cotnp.tny. The furs arc mad 'lP in pac!\., of a ccrt:un weight, and a p:trticul.lr n tmbcr is put into each c nee. Ly kno\ i1 g thus the c :1.C weight of every p:1cl ·, there c n he 10 ,..mbczzl...1 1cnt; and at the portages there i<> no time wafl.ed in allottin' to eac:h m, n his k:.H.I, every one Icing o 1ligcd to c rry U) many p. cl . At the Grand Portage, <lnd along that im t:nfc chain of hi-es and rivers, which xtend b 'YOIHt Lake Su perior, the company has r ·gular pofl.s, where the agents reticle; and with fuch ailonifhing entcrpri~c and indufi:ry have the aft:1irs of this ompa11y been C3rried on, that trad ing pofis arc now cfl:abli11ed within five hundrcc' miles of the Pacific Ocean . One gentleman, indeed, a partn r 111 the houfc at M ntrt:al, whi h now holds the o-reatefi p.1 rt of the i11arcs of the company, h:1s even pt:netrated to the Pa ilic Ocean itfelf: The journal kl'pt by this gentleman upon the expedition is, it is ra·d, replete wilh information of the moil intcrcfting nature. That it has not been laid before the public long ago, tog thcr with an accnrat map of h is track, is to be imputed fulcly to an unfortunate mifund ·dl:anding whi h too1' place between him and a noble lord high in the conftd ·nee f government. In the firfi attempt which this adventuro 1s gcntlcn1an, a Mr. M'K nzie, made to penetrate to the ocean, he f~t out early in tl e fpring from the rcmotefl: of the pofis belonging to the company. He took with him a finglc canoe, anc.l a party of chofen men; and after paffing over prodigious traCts of land, N:V r be ~ re tra vcrfed by any white perfon, at lafl: came to a large river. Here the canoe, which was carried by the men on their {boulder , wa launched, and having all embarked, they proceeded down the firearn. Fr01 1 the courfe t' ,;s river took for a very great difiance, Mr. M'Kenzie was led to imagine that it was one of thofc rivers he was in quefi: of; nam ly, one which MR. M r E r Z IE ' s TI X P EDIT I 0 N. ISS which emptied itfclf i1 to the P;.Hi tic Ocean; but at the end of fevcr.d weeks, during which th ey had \ urkcd th<"ir \vay downward with great eagc rncfs, he \vas convinced, from the gradu al inc:li nat io11 of the river to\ Vards another quarter, that he muil have been mifl::.d·:cn ; and that it was one of thofc irnmenfe rivers, lo numerous on the contim.:nt of North America, that ran into Baf1in's D ~ty, or the Arelic Ocean. The party wa now in a Vt:ry critical fitu ation; the [cafon was f.1r advanct:d, and the length of way which they hac..l t return was prodigious. If th y attempted to go ba k, and were overtaken by winter, . they mufl in all probability peri01 for want of provifion in an uninhabited country; if, on the ontrary, they made up their mind to fpend the winter where they wc.; re, th y had no time to lofc in builJing buts, and going out to hunt and fi01, that they might have fufll cient fl:or ·s to fupport them through that dreary feafon. Mr. M'J enzie rCJ n.:fen tcd the matter, in the mof1: open terms, to his men, and left it to thcmfelves to determine the part they would take. The men were for going back ~t all hazards · and the rcfult was, that they reached their friends in fi1fcty. The dif1iculties they had to contend with, and the exertions they made in returning, were almofl furpaffing belief. The fccond expedition entered upon by Mr. 1\1cKenzie, and which fucccedcd to his wifhcs, was undertaken nbout three years ago. Ire i<..:t out in the f.1me manner, but well providec..l with fev cral different thi ng , which he found the want of in the fidl expedition. lie wa extremely well furni01cd this time with anronomical infiruments, and in particular with a good time-piece, that he procured from London. He took a courfe fomewh:lt diffe r 'nt fi-om the firfi, and paficd through many nations of Indians who had never before '[een the -G1cc of a white man, .:1mong£l fo111e of whom he was for a time in imminent danger; but he fo md means at bfi to conciliate their good will. I· rom lome of thcfc Indians he lca·rnc I, tlut there was a ridge of monntains at a little~ diftan ce, bcyonJ which the rivers all mn in a wef1crn direc ion. IIavinocngagcd ionje of them therefore for guides, he proceeded according to their direction until he cam to the mountains, and after afcendino- b them with prodigious labour found, to his gt'eat fatisfac ion, that the B b tCCOLint ' |
