Shouldering our blankets and guns, we ascended the valley of a river which we traced to its source in a lake ten miles long, which, with the river, I named Finlayson's lake and river. The lake is situated so near the watershed that in high floods its waters flow from both ends down both sides of the mountains towards the Arctic on the one hand and the Pacific on the other. From this point we descended the west slope of the Rocky Mountains, and on the second day from Finlayson's lake we had the satisfaction of seeing from a high bank a splendid river in the distance. I named the bank from which we caught the first glimpse of the river "Pelly Banks," and the river "Pelly River," after our home governor, Sir H. Pelly. I may mention, in passing, that Sir George Simpson in a kind letter called them both after me, "Campbell's Banks and River," but in my reply I disclaimed all knowledge of any such places. After reaching the actual bank of the river, we constructed a raft, on which we embarked and drifted down a few miles on the bosom of the stream, and at parting we cast in a sealed tin can with memoranda of our discovery and the date. Highly delighted with our success, we retraced our steps to Frances lake, where we rejoined the rest of our party, who during our absence had built a house on the point at the forks of the lake which we called "Glenlyon." Returning, we reached Fort Halkett (on Liard river) about the 10th of September, and forwarded the report of our trip by the party who brought up our outfit. [Illustration] The Company now resolved to follow up these discoveries, and with this view I was ordered in 1841 to establish a trading post on Frances lake so as to be ready for future operations westward. In 1842, birch bark for the construction of a large canoe to be used in exploring the Pelly was brought up from Fort Liard with the outfit, and during the winter was sent over the mountains by dogsleighs to Pelly banks, where the necessary buildings were put up, and the canoe was built in the spring of 1843.