Those fish, though very fine, and beautifully red, are
but small, seldom weighing more (as near as I could judge) than six or
seven pounds, and in general much less. Their numbers at this place
were almost incredible, perhaps equal to anything that is related of
the salmon in Kamschatka, or any other part of the world."
Hearne seems to have been so intent on geographical discovery that he
did not allow his feelings to influence him very long against the
society of his Amerindian companions, who apparently sat down and ate
a dish of salmon with him an hour or so after they had killed this
last old woman! The Indians now told him that they were ready again to
assist him in making an end of his survey, and apparently on foot, for
the Coppermine River was not navigable here, even for a boat.
Thus, first of all white men coming overland, he reached the sea coast
of the Arctic Ocean. The tide was then out, and a good deal of the sea
surface was covered with ice, on which he observed many seals lying
about. Along the sea coast and river banks were many birds; gulls,
divers or loons, golden plovers, green plovers, curlews, geese, and
swans. The country a little way inland was obviously inhabited by
numbers of musk oxen, reindeer, bears, wolves, gluttons, foxes, polar
hares, snowy owls, ravens, ptarmigans, gopher ground-squirrels, stoats
(ermines), and mice.
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