NOTES OF AN EGGING EXPEDITION TO SHOAL LAKE, 431 



jonmey, the weather find road improving as the day advanced. At sunset wo 

 came to our first camping' place from tlie settlement, men and oxen being* very 

 tired, and I very unwell and nearly l)lind from the affection of my eyes : we were, 

 however, much im])roved b}' a good night's rest, and left camp after sunrise. In 

 passing over the plain we shot a meadow lark ; these birds are found in pairs 

 along the Red river to the end of the plains, and on the south side of the Assini- 

 boine. They appear in pairs in May, generally perched on a low tree — willow 

 or reed. They are very watchful, seldom allowing the himter the chance of a 

 fair shot. We found the public road much improved since we passed on it, 

 before ; the tempest which passed over us at Shoal lake did not extend to tho 

 settlement. ¥7e reached home at 3 in the afternoon, and found "all well." 



It ma}' not here be amiss or out of place to make a few reuiarks on the Mani- 

 towaba region. I have travelled a distance of 40 miles on tlie east side of it, 

 and am delighted with the beauty of the landscape ; the wide expanse of water 

 in the foreground, the dark green forest in the rear, with a beautiful green jilain 

 of three or four miles in extent, gently declining from the forest to the lake, 

 inviting the husbandman to put in the plough. Here are neither stones nor 

 roots to impede his operations, and I am sure the soil is generous and would 

 amply repay his toil. This large lake abounds in a variety of fish of tlie best 

 kinds, Avhich an industrious population would turn to [irofitable account. In 

 this region there are at present three small villages : one at Oak Point, contain- 

 ing from 10 to 15 dwellings, called houses, of the most primitive kind; another 

 at wliat is called the Bay, consisting of seven or eight houses, and favored as 

 the residence of a Catholic priest. A third village is rising two or three miles 

 to tlie south of the latter. The population of these villages is composed of 

 Indians, of half, three-quarter, and of seven-eighth Indians, Avitli a few very 

 aged French Canadians. These people are like the fowls of heaven ; they 

 " neither sow nor reap," nor do they even, as far as I have been able to see, plant 

 potatoes. They possess a few cattle and horses ; the latter roam through the 

 woods summer and winter, living independent of their masters' care. The finest 

 of hay grows within a few yards of their houses, yet I have been informed that 

 many of these people are so indolent as to allow their animals to die in Avinter 

 from, starvation. There are two or three exceptions to the above rule. The 

 question will naturally arise, how do people so bound down by indolence procure 

 food and clothing? In answer to this query we will begin with the opening of 

 the spring. I said above that the lake abounded with fish. As soon as tho 

 thaw commences the fish forsake the deep places to which they resorted as the 

 winter advanced, and swarm towards the shore, and run into the many little creeks 

 that pass out of the marshes into the lake. Here they are taken in nets and by 

 angling from the beginning of April until the breaking up of the ice in the latter 

 end of May, and for some time after continue plentiful until the water in the lake 

 becomes warm, when the fish return again to the deep places. In April the ducks 

 and geese return in great numbers, become plentiful, and feed in numerous flocks 

 in all the marshes fringing the lakes for at least a month and a half. The gra}^ 

 geese and ducks draw t>fi' by degrees in May, but the white geese (wawec) come 

 generally in the last week of April, and begin to clear away for Hudson's l)ay 

 on the 13th or 14th of May, where they invariably arrive on the 15th of3Iay; 

 tho last of them leave here from the 20th to the 25th of the same month. 



While the fish and wild fowl can be had these people enjoy a continual feast; 

 and when these fail, rats, which have been taken in great numbers for some years 

 past, are considered desirable articles of food ; even when plenty reigng in the 

 land the rat furnishes them not only with food but with the means of providing 

 themselves with clothing. Since the country has been partially opened the furs 

 are busily competed for, and it follows that a high price is invariably paid for 

 them. When all the wild fowl have taken to their breeding places the people 

 have a hard struggle for dear life against hunger, which compels them to searci 



