206 FORT RELIANCE. 



reception and accommodation of the Indians. 

 Each of the rooms had a fireplace and a rude 

 chimney, which, save that it suffered a fair pro- 

 portion of the smoke to descend into the room, 

 answered tolerably well. A diminutive apology 

 for a room, neither wind nor water tight, was 

 attached to the hall, and dignified with the name 

 of a kitchen. The men's houses, forming the 

 western side of what was intended to be a square, 

 but which, like many other squares, was never 

 finished, completed our building. As every post 

 in the country is distinguished by a name, I gave 

 to ours that of Fort Reliance, in token of our 

 trust in that merciful Providence, whose pro- 

 tection we humbly hoped would be extended 

 to us in the many difficulties and dangers to 

 which these services are exposed. The exact 

 site is in latitude 62° 46' 29" N., longitude, 

 109° 0' S8-9 77 W. ; the variation, 35° 19' east, 

 and dip, 84° 44'. About a mile from the house 

 was a tree which had been struck by lightning, 

 and splintered twenty feet down the trunk, the 

 pieces being thrown thirty or forty paces away. 

 I do not recollect to have seen a similar in- 

 stance. 



A continuation of mild weather, and the 

 manner in which the deer were harassed, caused 

 them to return to a distance on the barren lands, 

 where they could not be followed at this season ; 



