50 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



forming some devotional act preparatory to his departure, which he 

 felt approaching ; and, induced by the novelty of the incident, I 

 went twice to observe him more closely ; but when he perceived that 

 he was noticed, he immediately ceased his operation, hung down his 

 head, and by his demeanour, intimated that he considered my ap- 

 pearance an intrusion. The residents at the fort could give me no 

 information on the subject, and I could not learn that the Indians in 

 general observe any particular ceremony on the approach of death. 



November 15. — The sky had been overcast during the last week; 

 the sun shone forth once only, and then not sufficiently for the pur- 

 pose of obtaining observations. Faint coruscations of the Aurora 

 Borealis appeared one evening, but their presence did not in the 

 least affect the electrometer nor the compass. The ice daily became 

 thicker in the lake, and the frost had now nearly overpowered the 

 rapid current of the Saskatchawan Kiver ; indeed, parties of men 

 who were sent from both the forts to search for the Indians, and 

 procure whatever skins and provisions they might have collected, 

 crossed that stream this day on the ice ; the white partridges made 

 their first appearance near to the house. These birds are considered 

 as the infallible harbingers of severe weather. 



Monday, November 22. — The Saskatchawan, and every other river, 

 were now completely covered with ice, except a small stream near to 

 the fort through which the current ran very powerfully. In the 

 course of the week we removed .into the house our men had been 

 preparing for us since our arrival. We found it at first extremely 

 cold notwithstanding a good fire was kept in each aparment, and we 

 frequently experienced the extremes of heat and cold on opposite 

 sides of the body. 



November 24. — We this day obtained observations for the dip of 

 the needle and intensity of the magnetic force in a spare room. The 

 dip was 83° 9' 45", and the difference produced by reversing the face 

 of the instrument 1 3° 3' 6'* When the needle was faced to the west 



