38 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 
grounding in the stream, several muddy islands 
have been formed. These interruptions, together 
with the various collections of stones that are hid 
at high water, render the navigation of the river 
difficult ; but vessels of two hundred tons burthen 
may be brought through the proper channels as- 
high as the Factory. oie 
~The principal buildings are placed in the form 
of a square, having an octagonal court in the cen: 
tre; they are two stories in height, and have flat — 
roofs covered with lead. The officers dwell in 
one portion of this square, and in the other — 
parts the articles’ of merchandise are kept: the 
workshops, storehouses for the furs , and the ser- 
vants’ houses, are ranged on the outside of the — 
squate, and the whole is surrounded by.a stock- 
ade twenty feet high. A platform is laid from 
the house to the pier on the bank for the con- 
venience of transporting the stores and furs, which 
is the only promenade the residents have on this 
marshy spot during the summer season. The 
few Indians, who now frequent this establishment, 
belong to the Swampy Crees, There were sévetal 
of them encamped on the outside of the stockade. 
Their tents were rudely constructed by tying 
twenty or thirty poles together at the top, and 
Spreading them out at the base go as to form a 
cone; these were covered with dressed moose- 
