66 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 
Play Green Lakes. At the lower end of this 
channel, Big Jack River, a stream of consider- 
able magnitude, falls into the lake. Play Green 
is a translation of the appellation given to that 
. lake by two bands of Indians, who met and held 
a festival on an island situated near its centre. 
After leaving our encampment we sailed through 
Upper Play Green Lake, and arrived at Norway 
Point in the forenoon. 
The waters of Lake Winipeg, and of the 
rivers that run into it, the Saskatchawan in par- 
ticular, are rendered turbid by the suspension 
of a large quantity of white clay. Play Green 
Lake and Nelson River, being the discharges 
of the Winipeg, are equally opaque, a circum- 
stance that renders the sunken rocks, so fre- 
quent in these waters, very dangerous to boats 
in a fresh breeze. Owing to this, one of the 
boats that accompanied us, sailing at the rate 
of seven miles an hour, struck upon one of these 
rocks. Its mast was carried away by the shock, 
but fortunately no other damage sustained. The 
Indians ascribe the muddiness of these lakes to 
an adventure of one of their deities, a mischievous 
fellow, a sort of Robin Puck, whom they hold 
in very little esteem. This deity, who is named 
Weesakootchaht, possesses considerable power, 
but makes a capricious use of it; and delights 
