SOURCE OP ST. Peter's river. 117 



we lived altogether upon the jerked buffalo and pemmican 

 which we had purchased. These had not been well pre- 

 pared, and a large portion was found to be in a very bad 

 condition. This, and the immense quantity eaten by our 

 Engages, whose appetite far exceeded any thing that we 

 had ever witnessed, soon reduced our stock. The private 

 stores of the officers and gentlemen's mess, such as tea, 

 sugar, &c. were so nearly expended as to require that they 

 should be used in a sparing manner. We therefore resort- 

 ed to a number of wild plants, of which infusions were 

 made and tried as substitutes for the imported tea; and 

 although to some of the party these appeared good, yet by 

 the greater part the change was not relished. Among the 

 plants which we used were the Ledum latifolium of Pursh, 

 the Stachys anisatus, and the Gaultheria procumbens of 

 Nuttall. 



Being informed that at the head of Rainy river there 

 were two settlements, one on the north shore, belonging 

 to the Hudson's Bay Company, and the other on the south, 

 kept up by the American Fur Company, we stopped at the 

 latter, but found it destitute of provisions, and of the arti- 

 cles required for the repair of our canoes. Notwithstand- 

 ing, therefore, the polite reception of the superintendant, 

 Mr. Davenport, we crossed over to the north shore, where 

 Mr. M'Gillivray gave us the same hospitable treatment 

 which we had received at the other trading posts of the 

 Hudson's Bay Company. We remained at this place two 

 days, to repair our canoes, which had suffered from the ra- 

 pids in Winnepeek river. One of them being very heavy, 

 and in bad order, was broken up, and its materials used to 

 repair the others. 



At Rainy Lake we met with a man, whose interesting 

 adventures deserve to be made known to the public; of 



Vol. n. 16 



