Journals by Alexander Mackenzie — Read

Monday, July 13. -- We had no sooner retired to rest last night, if I may use that expression, in a country where the sun never sinks beneath the horizon, than some of the people were obliged to rise and remove the baggage, on account of the rising of the water. At eight in the morning the weather was fine and calm, which afforded an opportunity to examine the nets, one of which had been driven from its position by the wind and current. We caught seven poissons inconnus, which were unpalatable; a white fish, that proved delicious; and another about the size of an herring, which none of us had ever seen before, except the English Chief, who recognized it as being of a kind that abounds in Hudson's Bay. About noon the wind blew hard from the westward, when I took an observation, which gave 69° 14′ north latitude, and the meridian variation of the compass was thirty-six degrees eastward.7

This afternoon I re-ascended the hill, but could not discover that the ice had been put in motion by the force of the wind. At the same time I could just distinguish two small islands in the ice, to the northwest by compass. I now thought it necessary to give a new net to my men to mount, in order to obtain as much provision as possible from the water, our stores being reduced to about five hundred weight, which, without any other supply, would not have sufficed for fifteen people above twelve days. One of the young Indians, however, was so fortunate as to find the net that had been missing, and which contained three of the poissons inconnus.