24 THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE BY LAND. 



wofully were they changed by the swelling of mos- 

 quito bites. 



Milton was quite unable to use a paddle for several 

 days, and his canoe was towed along by Treemiss and 

 Cheadle. This, of course, delayed us considerably, 

 and the delight we had experienced during the first 

 few days' journey gradually gave place to a desire for 

 change. 



Eed Eiver, flowing almost entirely through prairie 

 land, has hollow^ed out for itself a deep channel in the 

 level plains, the sloping sides of which are covered 

 with timber almost to the w^ater's edge. The un- 

 varying sameness of the river, and the limited prospect 

 shut in by rising banks on either side, gave a monotony 

 to our daily journey ; and the routine of cooking, 

 chopping, loading and unloading canoes, paddling, 

 and shooting, amusing enough at first, began to grow 

 rather tiresome. 



The continual leaking of our rickety canoes 

 obliged us to pull up so frequently to empty them, and 

 often spend hours in attempting to stop the seams, that 

 w^e made very slow progress towards completing the 

 live hundred miles before us. We therefore thoroughly 

 overhauled them, and having succeeded in making 

 them tolerably water-tight, resolved to make an extra 

 stage, and travel all night. The weather was beauti- 

 fully fine, and, although there was no moon, we were 

 able to steer well enough by the clear starlight. 



The night seemed to pass very slowly, and w^e 

 nodded wearily over our paddles before the first appear- 

 ance of daylight gave us an excuse for landing, which 



