ned on
proceeding thither, and fixed on the 22d for our departure.

Pierre au Calumet receives its name from the place where the stone is
procured, of which many of the pipes used by the Canadians and Indians
are made. It is a clayey limestone, impregnated with various shells. The
house, which is built on the summit of a steep bank, rising almost
perpendicular to the height of one hundred and eighty feet, commands an
extensive prospect along this fine river, and over the plains which
stretch out several miles at the back of it, bounded by hills of
considerable height, and apparently better furnished with wood than the
neighbourhood of the fort, where the trees grow very scantily. There had
been an establishment belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company on the
opposite bank of the river, but it was abandoned in December last, the
residents not being able to procure provision, from their hunters having
been disabled by the epidemic sickness, which has carried off one-third
of the Indians in these parts. They belong to the Northern Crees, a name
given them from their residing in the Athabasca department. There are
now but few families of these men, who, formerly, by their numbers and
predatory habits, spread terror among the natives of this part of the
country.

There are springs of bituminous matter on several of the islands near
these houses; and the stones on the river-bank are much impregnated with
this useful substance. There is also another place remarkable for the
production of a sulphureous salt, which is deposited on the surface of a
round-backed hill about half a mile from the beach, and on the marshy
ground underneath it. We visited these places at a subsequent period of
the journey, and descriptions of them will appear in Dr. Richardson's
Mineralogical Notices.

The latitude of the North-West Company's House is 57 deg. 24' 06" N., but
this was the only observation we could obtain, the atmosphere being
cloudy. Mr. Stuart had an excellent thermometer, which indicated the
lowest state of temperature to be 43 deg. below zero. He told me 45 deg. was the
lowest temperature he had ever witnessed at the Athabasca or Great Slave
Lake, after many years' residence. On the 21st it rose above zero, and
at noon attained the height of 43 deg.; the atmosphere was sultry, snow fell
constantly, and there was quite an appearance of a change in the season.
On the 22d we parted from our hospitable friend, and recommenced our
journey