72 THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE BY LAND. 



broods. Many of the latter fall victims to their pro- 

 crastination, being frequently found frozen fast in the 

 ice. But this, the Indians assert, takes place in 

 consequence of their excessive fatness, which renders 

 them unable to rise on the wing, and they are thus 

 detained behind, to suffer a miserable death. 



In four days we arrived at the Shell River, a 

 small tributary of the Saskatchewan ; and here we 

 had all to jump into the stream and assist in helping 

 the heavily-laden carts down the steep bank, and up 

 the opposite slope. The water was cold as ice, and 

 we hardly enjoyed our compulsory bath, but the 

 noonday sun shone warmly, and a rapid walk soon 

 restored the circulation in our benumbed limbs. 



The next day brought us to a lovely little spot, 

 a small prairie of perhaps 200 acres, surrounded by 

 low wooded hills, and on one side a lake winding 

 with many an inlet amongst the hills and into the 

 plain, while here and there a tiny promontory, richly 

 clothed with pines and aspens, stretched out into the 

 water. The beauty of the place had struck the rude 

 voyageurs, its only visitors, except the Indians, and 

 they had named it La Belle Prairie. 



As we crossed it, we remarked to one another 

 what a magnificent site for a house one of the pro- 

 montories would be, and how happy many a poor 

 farmer who tilled unkindly soil at home would feel in 

 possession of the rich land which lay before us. The 

 same day we struck the river Crochet, a stream of 

 about the same size as Shell River, and assisted to 

 help the carts across, as we had done at the latter. 



