CHAPTER 8.
TRANSACTIONS AT FORT ENTERPRISE.
MR.

BACK'S NARRATIVE OF HIS JOURNEY TO CHIPEWYAN, AND RETURN.
TRANSACTIONS AT FORT ENTERPRISE.
September 1820.
During our little expedition to the Copper-Mine River Mr.Wentzel had made great progress in the erection of our winter-house having nearly roofed it in.

But before proceeding to give an account of a ten months' residence at this place, henceforth designated Fort Enterprise, I may premise that I shall omit many of the ordinary occurrences of a North American winter as they have been already detailed in so able and interesting a manner by Ellis* and confine myself principally to the circumstances which had an influence on our progress in the ensuing summer.

The observations on the magnetic needle, the temperature of the atmosphere, the Aurora Borealis, and other meteorological phenomena, together with the mineralogical and botanical notices, being less interesting to the general reader, are omitted in this edition.
(*Footnote.

Voyage to Hudson's Bay in the Dobbs and California.) The men continued to work diligently at the house and by the 30th of September had nearly completed it for our reception when a heavy fall of rain washed the greater part of the mud off the roof.