Original - North Central Michigan College Library

anfcward, which they called Kiratchinini Sibi* 774or Slave River, and which flows into anotherlake, called by the same name; but whetherthis lake was or was not the sea, or whether itemptied itself or not into the sea they wereunable to say. They were at war with theIndians who live at the bottom of the riverwhere the water is salt. They also made waron the people beyond the mountains towardthe Pacific Ocean, to which their warriors hadfrequently been near enough to see it.Thoughwe conversed with these people in the Cree, orCristinaux language, which is the usual mediumof communication, they were Chepewyans,or Rocky Mountain Indians.They were in possession of several ultramontaneprisoners, two of whom we purchased;one, a woman of twenty-five years of age,and the other a boy of twelve. They had bothbeen recently taken, and were unable to speakthe language of their masters. They conversedwith each other in a language exceedinglyagreeable to the ear, composed of short words,and spoken with a quick utterance. We gavefor each a gun.The dress of the Chepewyans nearly resembledthat of the Cristinaux, except that itwas composed of beaver and marten skinsinstead of those of the ox and elk. We found73Or Yatchinini Sipi. Author.74These are the rivers which have since been exploredby Sir Alexander Mackenzie. Author.313