4,2 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



lifted over them. In the afternoon we passed through a shallow 

 piece of water overgrown with bulrushes, and hence named Hairy 

 Lake ; and, in the evening, encamped on the banks of Blackwater- 

 Creek, by which this lake empties itself into Sea River ; having come 

 during the day twenty miles and three quarters. 



On the morning of the 5th, we entered Sea River, one of the many 

 branches of Nelson River. It is about four hundred yards wide, 

 and its waters are of a muddy white colour. After ascending the 

 stream for an hour or two, and passing through Carpenter s Lake, 

 which is merely an expansion of the river to about a mile in breadth, 

 we came to the Sea River Portage, where the boat was launched 

 across a smooth rock, to avoid a fall of four or five feet. Re-em- 

 barking at the upper end of the portage, we ran before a fresh gale 

 through the remainder of Sea River, the lower part of Play Green 

 Lake, and entering Little Jack River, landed and pitched our tents. 

 Here there is a small log-hut, the residence of a fisherman, who 

 supplies Norway House with trout and sturgeon. He gave us a few 

 of these fish, which afforded an acceptable supper. The length of 

 our voyage this day was thirty-four miles. 



October 6. — Little Jack River is the name given to a channel that 

 winds among several large islands which separate Upper and Lower 

 Play Green Lakes. At the lower end of this channel, Big Jack 

 River, a stream of considerable magnitude, falls into the lake. 

 Play Green is a translation of the appellation given to that lake by 

 two bands of Indians, who met and held a festival on an island situated 

 near its centre. After leaving our encampment we sailed through 

 Upper Play Green Lake, and arrived at Norway Point in the fore- 



noon. 



The waters of Lake Winipeg, and of the rivers that run into it, 

 the Saskatchawan in particular, are rendered turbid by the suspen- 

 sion of a large quantity of white clay. Play Green Lake and Nelson 

 River, being the discharges of the Winipeg, are equally opaque, a 



