Immediately under the sandy soil on which the house stood, there is a bed of tenacious bluish clay, of unknown thickness, which, even in the months of August and September, was firmly frozen at the depth of twenty-one inches from the surface. No rocks were exposed in any part, and wherever the surface had been torn up, a clayey soil appeared. Many boulder stones of granite, limestone, sandstone and trap rocks, were scattered about the lake, not far from the shore.
The trees at some distance from our fort consisted of black and white spruce, and larch, generally small, though a few of the better grown measured from four to five feet in girth, and were from fifty to fifty-five feet high. Dr. Richardson ascertained, by counting the annual rings, that some of them, in a sound state, were upwards of one hundred and thirty years old; while others, which were not much greater in size, had two hundred and fifty rings, but these were decayed at the heart.
The officers had done me the honour, previous to my arrival, of giving the name of Franklin to the fort, which I felt a grateful pleasure in retaining at their desire, though I had intended naming it Fort Reliance. The number of persons belonging to the establishment amounted to fifty: consisting of five officers, including Mr. Dease; nineteen British seamen, marines, and voyagers; nine Canadians; two Esquimaux; Beaulieu, and four Chipewyan hunters; three women, six children, and one Indian lad; besides a few infirm Indians, who required temporary support. This party was far too large to gain subsistence by fishing at one station only; two houses were, therefore, constructed at four and seven miles distance, from the fort, to which parties were sent, provided with the necessary fishing implements; and not more than thirty persons were left to reside at the principal establishment. From fifteen to twenty nets were kept in use, under the superintendence of Pascal Coté, an experienced fisherman, who had two assistants. These were placed opposite the house, and towards the end of summer, and in autumn, they yielded daily from three to eight hundred fish, of the kind called "the Herring Salmon of Bear Lake," and occasionally some trout, tittameg, and carp. Four Dog-Rib Indians, who were engaged to hunt the Rein-deer in the neighbourhood of the fort, from want of skill, contributed very little fresh meat to our store. Augustus and Ooligbuck employed themselves in the same service, but from not being accustomed to hunt in a woody country, they were not more successful.