westward, with a considerable quantity of fox-skins,--the only fur
this barren country yields. Some of these poor creatures had passed
nearly two years on their journey hither, being obliged to hunt or
fish for their living as they travelled. They set off on their return
with a little tobacco, or a few strings of beads;--very few having the
means of procuring guns and ammunition.

Nothing worthy of notice occurred till the month of September, when
I was gratified by the arrival of despatches from Canada, by a
junior clerk appointed to the district. By him we received the first
intelligence of the stirring events that had taken place in the
colonies during the preceding year. The accounts of the triumphs of my
countrymen's arms over French treachery and Yankee hatred, diverted
my thoughts, for the first time, from the melancholy subject of my
late bereavement; the thoughts of which my solitude served rather to
cherish than dispel.

Having learned from the natives that a river fell into the bay,
about eighty miles to the eastward, that offered greater facilities
for carrying on the business in the interior than our present
communication, I ordered the men who had assisted Mr. Erlandson,
to descend by this river,--an enterprise which was successfully
accomplished. Their report confirming that of the natives, I forthwith
determined on establishing a post there; and the season being now
far advanced, I had no sooner decided on the step than I set about
carrying it into execution. A party was despatched with every
requisite for the purpose, about the 15th of September; and I received
a communication from them in October, informing me that they had
discovered a convenient situation for erecting the buildings. The
materials being found on the spot, and the men aware of the approach