50 HIS FIRST JOURNEY ACROSS THE PRAIRIES 



taken through the Lakes and Rivers from this point to the borders 

 of Manitoba. When we reached the Lake we found a small 

 steamboat ready to take us across and ahead of us had been a 

 number of immigrants who were going by that route to Manitoba. 

 Our party had three large Hudson Bay birch-bark canoes and 

 canoe-men who were brought all the way from Montreal, being 

 the pick of the Iroquois Indians. One of them, Ignace, had been 

 Sir George Simpson's chief guide and the others whom we had 

 were equally as good. Of the three canoes one was a five fathom 

 canoe equal to 30 ft., and the others were four fathom. Besides 

 our canoes there were a number of others and the flotilla was 

 arranged as follows. The barge with the immigrants was tied to 

 the steamer and each canoe was attached in single fashion to 

 each other and it. Of course, Mr. Flemings was in the lead. This 

 was the order of progression at any time during the trip while we 

 were attached to a steamer. 



After we crossed the Lake, the country passed through was 

 very varied and, in fact, was apparently more water than land and 

 caused great difficulty afterwards to the engineers to make a rail- 

 way location through it. The following extract from "Ocean to 

 Ocean" will suffice in showing the character of the region passed 

 through: "We now entered a lovely lake twenty-two miles long; 

 its name explains its characteristic. As the steam launch station- 

 ed on it happened to be, unfortunately, at the west end, the In- 

 dians again paddled the canoes for the four miles, when we met 

 the launch coming back; it at once turned about and took us in 

 tow. After a smart shower the sky cleared, and the sun shone on 

 innumerable bays, creeks, channels, headlands and islets, which 

 are simply larger or smaller rocks of granite covered with moss 

 and wooded to the water's brink. Through this labyrinth we 

 forged our way, often wondering that the wrong passage was never 

 taken, where there were so many exactly alike. Fortunately, the 

 fire-demon has not devastated these shores. The timber in some 

 places is heavy ; pine, aspen and birch being the prevailing varie- 

 ties. Every islet in the Lake is wooded down to the water's edge. 

 Our Botanist, though finding few new species not obtained on his 

 holiday, looked forward with eager hope to the flora of the plains. 



