[1] Hearne was born in London in 1745. He entered the Royal Navy as a midshipman at the tender age of eleven, and remained in the Navy till about 1765, when he went out to Hudson Bay with the rank of quartermaster. He must have acquired a considerable education, even in botany and zoology. He not only wrote well, and was a good surveyor for rough map making, but he had a considerable talent as a draughtsman.
[2] This word is said to be a corruption or altered form of Wishakagamiū, a liquid or broth (Kri language). The drink made from this shrub or herb (Ledum palustre) is now known as Labrador tea. It is a bitter aromatic infusion.
[3] The Indians of the Athapaskan or Déné group were usually called the Northern Indians by the Hudson Bay people, in comparison to all the other tribes of the more temperate regions farther south, who were known as the Southern Indians (Algonkins, &c.).
[4] A fur-bearing animal (Mustela americana), very like the British pine marten.