We smoked with them and gave each person a glass of mixed spirits and some tobacco.

A Canadian servant of the North-West Company who was residing with them informed us that this family had lost numerous relatives, and that the destruction of property which had been made after their deaths was the only cause for the pitiable condition in which we saw them as the whole family were industrious hunters and therefore were usually better provided with clothes and other useful articles than most of the Indians.

We purchased from them a pair of snowshoes in exchange for some ammunition.

The Chipewyans are celebrated for making them good and easy to walk in; we saw some here upwards of six feet long and three broad.

With these unwieldy clogs an active hunter, in the spring when there is a crust on the surface of the snow, will run down a moose or red-deer.
We made very slow progress after leaving this party on account of the deep snow, but continued along the river until we reached its junction with the Athabasca or Elk River.