130 INDIAN ACCOUNT OF 



my rest was repeatedly interrupted by the start- 

 ling and fiendish screams of a score of the largest 

 sized loons ; so that I was not sorry when the 

 morning of the 25th of August afforded light 

 enough for escaping from their harsh and grating 

 notes. 



As we proceeded, the land on each side swelled 

 insensibly into a different character, attaining 

 an elevation of one hundred and seventy or 

 one hundred and ninety feet, with rounded 

 summits, partially covered with rich lichens, 

 and strewed with huge boulders, closely resem- 

 bling those round Point Lake. The valleys af- 

 forded a luxurious pasturage, and were tenanted 

 by a few scattered deer. 



A weak current was found to oppose us ; and 

 having passed through a narrow, which produced 

 a ripple having something of the character of 

 a rapid, we managed to get embayed. Maufelly 

 was fairly lost ; and after trying ineffectually half 

 a dozen openings, I returned to the current, which 

 became imperceptible as the land fell off; but, 

 taking the general direction of the last river and 

 this stream as a guide, I directed the course to a 

 distant northerly hill, which, luckily enough, hap- 

 pened to be the western point of another narrow, 

 well known to the Yellow Knives as a favourite 

 deer-pass, and which was, in fact, the only 

 passage for the water. A " band*" of deer was 



* Any number above six. 



