Here Mr Hearne began his survey of the river. This he continued till he arrived at its mouth, near which his northern Indians massacred twenty-one Esquimaux, whom they surprised in their tents. We shall give Mr Hearne's account of his arrival at the sea, in his own words: "After the Indians had plundered the tents of the Esquimaux of all the copper, &c. they were then again ready to assist me in making an end to the survey; the sea then in sight from the N.W. by W. to the N.E., distant about eight miles. It was then about five in the morning of the 17th, when I again proceeded to survey the river to the mouth, still found, in every respect, no ways likely, or a possibility of being made navigable, being full of shoals and falls; and, at the entrance, the river emptying itself over a dry flat of the shore. For the tide was then out, and seemed, by the edges of the ice, to flow about twelve or fourteen feet, which will only reach a little within the river's mouth. That being the case, the water in the river had not the least brackish taste. But I am sure of its being the sea, or some part thereof, by the quantity of whale-bone and seal-skins the Esquimaux had at their tents; as also the number of seals which I saw upon the ice. The sea, at the river's mouth, was full of islands and shoals, as far as I could see, by the assistance of a pocket-telescope; and the ice was not yet broken up, only thawed away about three quarters of a mile from the snore, and a little way round the islands and shoals. "By the time I had completed this survey, it was about one in the morning of the 18th; but in these high latitudes, and this time of the year, the sun is always a good height above the horizon. It then came on a thick drizzling rain, with a thick fog; and, as finding the river and sea, in every respect, not likely to be of any utility, I did not think it worth while to wait for fair weather, to determine the latitude exactly by an observation. But, by the extraordinary care I took in observing the courses and distances, walked from _Conge catha wha Chaga_, where I had two good observations, the latitude may be depended on, within twenty miles at farthest." From the map which Mr Hearne constructed of the country through which he passed, in this singular journey, it appears that the mouth of the Copper-mine River lies in the latitude 72°, and above 25° west longitude from the fort, from whence he took his departure.[43] [Footnote 43: Mr Hearne's journey, back from the Copper-mine River, to Fort Prince of Wales, lasted till June 30, 1772. From his first setting out till his return, he had employed near a year and seven months. The unparalleled hardships he suffered, and the essential service he performed, met with a suitable reward from his masters, and he was made governor of Fort Prince of Wales, where he was taken prisoner by the French in 1782; but soon afterwards returned to his station."--D.