NARRATIVE. 39 



rather under medium height, but well made, particularly the chest and 

 neck well-developed. The Indians were Ojibwas (ojib-wah), and had 

 the physical peculiarities of their tribe, viz. : a straighter nose, rather 

 greater fulness of the face, and less projecting cheek-bones, than the 

 Western Indians. But I was most struck with the Irish appearance 

 of the Canadians, and though I ascertained that they had no Irish 

 blood in their veins, yet the notion often recurred during the trip, and 

 I found myself several times surprised at missing the brogue. They 

 were blue-eyed, with flaxen hair, a rather low and square head, and 

 high-pitched voice. This resemblance, which also struck others of 

 the party, is interesting as showing perhaps che persistance of blood 

 and race. It was not until afterwards that I was informed that the 

 French of Canada are Bretons and Normands by origin ; thus coming 

 from that part of France in which, whether as most remote from in- 

 vaders, or from having been recruited from the British Isles, the 

 Celtic blood is best preserved. I do not know whether the Celtic 

 features are so noticeable at this day in that part of France, but no 

 one would have ever taken these men for Frenchmen. 



Our preparations occupied some time ; finally, just as we were 

 about to start, it was suggested and on short consultation decided 

 that we must have an additional canoe ; those provided proving insuffi- 

 cient to hold us all comfortably. Two of the party accordingly 

 remained behind to attend to this matter, and we got under weigh. 



We had but three in the canoe besides the boatmen, which gave 

 us an advantage over the others, so that we immediately took the 

 lead, and soon ran the other boats out of sight. The rain ceased, but 

 the weather was still unsettled, and the wind, strong down the 

 river, much retarding our progress. Our men had a hard pull of it, 

 yet they kept up an unceasing chatter in Ojibwa, (which sounded 

 occasionally much like Platt-Deutsch,) interspersed with peals of 

 laughter. About five o'clock we reached the Pointe-aux-Pins, about 

 six miles from the Sault, and as the wind had become very strong, 

 and the other boats were far behind, we decided to wait for them. 



The Point is a mass of sand and gravel, mingled with large 

 stones ; towards the main land are a few pitch-pines and willows ; 

 the ground covered with moss and low bushes, and a few strawber- 

 ries. Some flocks of pigeons were whirling about, at times dashing 

 down to the ground, and then rising high in the air ; a couple of these 



