23rd.--This being a fine day, all the men were employed dismantling the
house and carrying down the provisions, clothes, &c. to the summer
tents, which had been pitched about 300 yards nearer the shore. Two
leather tents were put up for cooking in. We saw the sun at midnight,
his lower limb touching the high grounds to the northward.
We made some bread in an oven which we had built of stones cemented with
clay of an excellent quality. The upper part of our first batch was well
baked, but the floor of the oven was not sufficiently warm to bake the
lower part. It however rose well, and we afterwards succeeded in making
excellent bread, though the oven was heated with heather.[4]
15th July.--Weather still stormy and cold to the feelings, the
thermometer being +35°. The water of North Pole Lake had broken through
its barrier of snow and ice, and was rushing down the river with great
force, carrying with it large masses of ice.
All the men except Flett, who remained at the tents, and Germain, who
had charge of the nets, went to North Pole Lake on the 19th to bring
down the boat. The river being one continued rapid throughout its whole
length, with not an eddy to stop in, they came down at rather a quick
rate, but were compelled to stop within a few hundred yards of the salt
water, on account of the shallowness and the number of stones.
Twenty-two salmon were caught, some in good condition, others very soft
and thin. The former contained roe about the eighth of an inch in
diameter.
A number of Esquimaux arrived for the purpose of catching salmon, having
finished their seal hunting, which had been successful, although the
number killed could not be ascertained. Our old friends were accompanied
by three strangers, viz., an old man and two young ones, with their
wives and families. Our travelling companion Ivitchuk had shot some deer
with his gun, but having spent nearly all his ammunition, he requested
and obtained a small additional stock.
Another Esquimaux, a jolly old fellow, with two wives, joined the party
here; he had come from the direction of Wager River this spring on the
ice. He and one or two more old men were nearly starved to death last
winter, being so much reduced that they could not walk. Twenty-three
salmon were got from the nets; some of these were in very poor
condition being evidently out of season; others were in fine order and
full of roe.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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