In the Arctic Beg ions. 31 



clothed with ;i variety of firs, poplars, birches, aad 

 willows. The current runs with great rapidity, and 

 the channel is, in many places, intricate and dangerous, 



from broken ridges of rock jutting into the stream. 

 We pitched our tents at the entrance of Cross Lake, 

 having advanced <»nly live miles and a half. 



Cross Lake is extensive, running towards the N. E., 

 it is said, for forty miles. We crossed it at the nar- 

 row part, and pulling through several winding chan- 

 nels, formed by a group of islands, entered Cedar 

 Lake, which, next to Lake Winneipeg, is the larg 

 sheet of fresh water we had hitherto seen. Ducks 

 and geese resort hither in immense flocks in the spring 

 and autumn. These lards are now beginning to <ro off. 

 owing to its muddy shores having become quite 1 

 through the nightly frosts. At this place the Aurora 



alis was extremely "brilliant in the night, itscoi 

 cations darting, at times, over the whole sky, and 

 Burning various prismatic tints, of which the violet 

 and yellow were predominant. 



After pulling, on the 14th. Beveu miles and a - 

 ter on the lake, a viol, ait wind drove us for sh< I 



a Bmall island, or rather a ridge of rolled si n 



thrown up by the frequent storms which agitate tl 

 lake. The weather did not moderate the whole d 



and we were obliged to pass the night on this expi 

 spot. The delay, however, enabled us to obtain s 



