[89] There is no evidence that any observations for latitude had been taken since he left Congecathawhachaga. Possibly the quadrant had been left behind with the women at that place, to be picked up again when he returned. But now, with the destruction of the quadrant, all uncertainty as to the character of the remainder of his survey is set at rest. His distances were estimated, and the general directions were doubtless taken with a magnetic compass, while observations for latitude were impossible.
[AV] The piece of iron above mentioned was the coulter of a new-fashioned plough, invented by Captain John Fowler, late Governor of Churchill River, with which he had a large piece of ground ploughed, and afterwards sowed with oats: but the part being nothing but a hot burning sand, like the Spanish lines at Gibraltar, the success may easily be guessed; which was, that it did not produce a single grain.
[90] This lake is identified by Sir John Richardson as the Providence Lake of Franklin and of the present maps, but it is more likely to be Mackay Lake, which is much more nearly the size of lake here described, and the description of the woods on the south shore agrees closely with the description of Lake Mackay given by Mr. Warburton Pike, who visited that region in 1890. This determination agrees also with the statement of Hearne, that No Name Lake lies but a short distance north of the edge of the "main woods," for the northern edge of the forest crosses the country from east to west, a few miles south of this lake. On Caspar Whitney's map of his trip through the barren grounds this lake is called King or Grizzly Bear Lake. Mr. C. Harding, the officer in charge of Fort Resolution, the Hudson Bay Company's post on Great Slave Lake, has sent me the following Chipewyan Indian names of lakes, &c., in this region:--
ENGLISH. CHIPEWYAN. MEANING. Mackay Lake. Clayki thua. White Sand Lake. Le Gras Lake. A ka thua. Fat Lake. (doubtless the same as Point Lake). Aylmer Lake. Chlueata thua. Caribou swimming among the ice Lake. Artillery Lake. Atacho thua. Caribou crossing in the middle of the lake Lake. Coppermine River. Sanka taza. Copper River. Musk Ox Mountain. Edegadaniyatha.