I2 EXPLORATIONS IN THE FAR NORTH 



steersman of "haul! haul! haul!" changed to an appeal, the line 

 broke and the boat was swept back and an ugly hole broken in 

 the side by the rocks — the work of an hour was undone in a few 

 seconds. The boat was repaired with tar and cloth, and a sec- 

 ond attempt was made. The whirling waters caught the heavy 

 sweep, which swung around so quickly that the steersman was 

 hurled into the midst of the rapids. Fortunately he was not 

 injured and regained the boat as it dropped down stream. The 

 third attempt was successful. 



The following day we reached Cedar Lake. 1 We were 

 awakened at 4 a. m. on the morning of the third day by the 

 steersman who insisted that we push on with the oars or we 

 should be "frozen in" before we reached our destination 

 Shortly after daybreak we were again wind-bound, and the day 

 was spent in camp at Rabbit Point. 



The days were now invariably cloudy, but the wind died 

 away in the evening and the sky cleared so that we could see to 

 travel. We set out again at five o'clock pushing on through the 

 long twilight while the swell still rocked our little craft, into the 

 calm of the winter night. 



The aurora appeared early in the evening, at first with a 

 broad yellowish band along the northern horizon; this crept 

 upward, folding and unfolding like some uncanny living thing, 

 then tongues and sheets of flame went flashing to the zenith, 

 changing rapidly while the band at their base continued its 

 shifting. The frost occupied itself with exposed parts for 

 awhile, then pierced through every wrap, and it not only looked 

 but felt like a sub-arctic scene. Every half hour the men took 

 their "spell," resting long enough to cut up and smoke a pipe- 

 ful of tobacco or kinnikinic. 



We reached Chemawawin on the morning of the fifth day. 

 We learned that only a few ducks had been seen since the gale, 



1 "Cedar Lake (so called from the occasional groves of cedar — a tree rarely 

 seen in Rupert's Land — growing on its shores, particularly at its western 

 extremity), is an expanse of water of considerable extent in which the 

 turbid waters of the Saskatchewan are allowed to disseminate and settle 

 before uniting into one great river and rushing down the Grand Rapids 

 into Lake Winnipeg." — Hind, Rpt. on the N. IV. Ter., p. 76. It was called 

 Lac Bourbon by the early Canadians. "C'est en 1728 que M. de Reveren- 

 die decouvrit ce lac et lui donna le nom lac Bourbon, (en anglais Cedar 

 Lake)." — Faraud, Henry, " Dix-huit ans chez les Sauvages" p. 70. 



