25' 00" W; but soon quitted it by desire of the Indian guide, and diverged more to the eastward that we might get into the line upon which our hunters had gone.

This was the only consideration that could have induced us to remove to a chain of small lakes connected by long portages.

We crossed three of these, and then were obliged to encamp to rest the men.

The country is bare of wood except a few dwarf birch bushes, which grow near the borders of the lakes, and here and there a few stunted pines; and our fuel principally consisted of the roots of decayed pines, which we had some difficulty to collect in sufficient quantity for cooking.

When this material is wanting, the rein-deer lichen and other mosses that grow in profusion on the gravelly acclivities of the hills are used as substitutes.