15'Z EXPEDITION TO THE 



be placed. lie accompanied the party as interpreter, from 

 Fort Douglas to Fort William. Much of the information 

 contained in this chapter was obtained from him. We are 

 induced to believe that he never wilfully misrepresented a 

 fact ; but we did not find him to ])e as intelligent as he had 

 been stated to be, and we have therefore omitted such parts 

 of his narrative as savoured of ignorance or credulity. He 

 is a half-breed Chippewa ; his information chiefly relates 

 to the Chippewas, properly speaking, who may be includ- 

 ed within the following limits : From the Sault de St. 

 Marie by a slightly curved line running somewhat south 

 of west, to the Chippewa river of Lake Pepin ; thence, in a 

 direction west of north, to Spirit Lake, and thence to the 

 head of the river Aile de Corbeau ; thence to Red river 

 near the Red Fork ; thence to the confluence of Mouse, 

 (or la Souris,) and Assiniboin rivers ; thence to a point on 

 the Saskatchawan, about one hundred and twenty miles 

 above its mouth; thence to the Riviere des Brochets; 

 thence to the Riviere de Sang ; and thence to the Sault de 

 St. Marie. This immense tract of land includes a vast pro- 

 portion of water, since it embraces the whole of Lakes Su- 

 perior, Winnepeek, of the Woods, &c. From this cir- 

 cumstance, the population of this nation certainly bears no 

 comparison to the extent of country which they claim. They 

 are reported by old travellers to have been very numerous. 

 Mackenzie attributes the diminution of their numbers to the 

 inroads of the Dacotas, and to the ravages of the small pox; 

 he considered their population as being on the increase, at 

 the time that he passed through their country. From what 

 we have seen and heard on the subject, we are induced to 

 believe that it has diminished since that time, and that it 

 is probably rapidly wasting away. The country which 

 they inhabit is almost destitute of large game ; it was, at 



