JAMES BAY TO RIVER ABBITIBBE 155 



daisies, but our primroses, buttercups, lady's smocks, 

 bluebells, and poppies are sadly missed by tbe man fresh 

 from tbe " old country." 



Owing, probably, to Moose Factory being tbe depot, 

 there is a great deal of traffic on the Abbitibbe, by 

 trappers and Indians ; but the season for transporting 

 the pelts had not yet arrived, and we met but few canoes. 

 There were parties of hunters about the banks, as there 

 were on the Albany, and among those we communicated 

 with were some Crees from Tom's village, or our village, 

 as I think I may call it the place where my hut was 

 situated on the Ottawa. These men could tell us that 

 all was well with our Mends ; that Sam and the two 

 Indians had reached home in safety, and that many con- 

 jectures were rife among them as to our safety .nd 

 probable return, " and,'' added one of the men, " Chom- 

 pol's daughter " (the young girl Emma Whit ting) " often 

 goes down to the river and watches for the canoe all day 

 long." And, he added contemptuously, " Girl always 

 weeping." Weeping is held in great contempt by Indians 

 as a mark of weakness, or cowardice ; and even the children 

 seldom cry. These casual remarks caused me some 

 uneasiness of mind, for I suddenly remembered many 

 little kindnesses and attentions on the part of this poor 

 girl, and how she seemed to anticipate my wishes, and to 

 be ever on the watch to serve me. 



There are generally, if not always, outposts to the 

 Company's principal stations, and this district is no 

 exception. There are minor posts at Lakes Temiscaming, 

 Grand, and Abbitibbe, though I did not find that out on 

 my first arrival at Temiscaming. There are other posts, 

 but from time to time the smaller posts were abandoned 

 for better or more convenient sites, and sometimes the 

 hunters carried their first packages of pelts to the nearest 

 trading station, and disposed of them at once before the 

 season was over. The forts and minor posts, some of 

 which had but one or two men in charge, were so 



