UNFITNESS OF THE TREES FOR PLANKS. 171 



threatened by the cackling of hundreds of geese, 

 which, at an immense height, were winging 

 their flight to the southward. Ranged accord- 

 ing to their families, the Grey, or Bustard, 

 the White, and the Laughing Geese, came 

 past in quick succession, vying in swiftness, as 

 if anxious to escape from the wintry horrors of 

 the north. Nothing could be more conclusive 

 of the breaking up of the season ; and we had 

 reason to be grateful for being so near home. 



September 6th. — The lake gradually con- 

 tracted; and I was sorry to remark that the trees 

 were generally small, and unfit for sawing into 

 planks for the construction of my boats. A bay, 

 edged by sand-banks, seemed at first sight to offer 

 a better kind ; but this also, on inspection, was 

 found knotty, full of branches, and consequently 

 unsuitable to the purpose. It was this spot that 

 the Indians had recommended, as possessing all 

 the requisites for building and supporting a new 

 establishment ; and a stronger example of their 

 incapacity for judging, and of the necessity 

 of receiving their suggestions with caution, 

 could scarcely be brought forward. The aspect 

 was unsheltered and forbidding ; the waters were 

 without fish; and there was hardly wood enough 

 in the immediate vicinity to raise a temporary 

 hut, far less to supply it with fuel. 



Accustomed to their exaggerations, I was not 



