224 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 
elevation of fifteen degrees. There was a quick 
lateral motion in the attenuated beams of which 
this zone was composed. Its colour was a pale 
yellow, with an occasional tinge of red. 
On the 8th of April the Indians saw some 
geese in the vicinity of this lake, but none of the 
migratory birds appeared near to the houses 
before the 15th, when some swans flew over. 
These are generally the first that arrive; the 
weather had been very stormy for the four pre- 
ceding days, and this in all probability kept the 
birds from venturing farther north than where 
the Indians had first seen them. 
In the middle of the month the snow began to 
waste daily, and by degrees it disappeared from 
the hills and the surface of the lake. On the 
17th and 19th the Aurora appeared very brilliant 
in patches of light, bearing N.W. An old Cree 
Indian having found a beaver lodge near to the 
fort, Mr. Keith, Back, and I, accompanied him to 
see the method of breaking into it, and theit 
mode of taking those interesting animals. The 
lodge was constructed on the side of a rock ina 
small lake, having the entrance into it beneatl 
the ice. The frames were formed of layers of 
Sticks, the interstices being filled with mud, and 
the outside was plastered with earth and stones 
which the frost had so completely consolidated, 
