56 The Home of tJie Wolverene and Beaver. 



the places he would soon hav^e made dangerous 

 wounds, had not the Violet, Pierre's pretty little 

 half-breed wife, explained to him the danger of 

 such a proceeding, and given him some ointment 

 made from herbs known only to the Indians, 

 which allayed his pain and prevented any 

 swelling. 



All the Canadian lakes and rivers abound with 

 fish, and the voyagcuy has scarcely thro\\-n in his 

 line before a smart tug announces that some 

 member of the finny tribe has found his bait too 

 attractive to be withstood. Salmon, trout, fresh- 

 water herrings, bass, shad, and sturgeon, all are to 

 be found in plenty, besides a kind called white- 

 fish, which are annually caught in great numbers by 

 means of long nets, and on which some of the 

 Indian tribes almost entirely exist ; indeed several 

 of the Hudson's Bay Company's outposts are in a 

 great measure dependent on these fish, dried and 

 otherwise cured, for their subsistence throughout 

 the long winters. 



To describe the journey from Thunder Bay to 

 Osnaburg House minutely would be wearisome to 

 my readers, and perhaps not particularly instruc- 

 tive, so I shall content myself by saying that on 

 reaching Rainy Lake the main channel leading to 

 Winnepeg was quitted, and the little flotilla stood 



