136 EXPLORATION OF THE PRAIRIES, 1879 



when I reached the 102nd Meridian, I was to travel by compass 

 to the head of Long Lake and from there, by compass again, to the 

 Elbow of the South Saskatchewan, cross it and proceed westward 

 to the Hand Hills which were north of the Blackfeet Reserve, and, 

 from there, if I had time, to proceed to Old Bow Fort, on Bow 

 River, north of Calgary. In the formation of my party, I engaged 

 my nephew, David Macoun, and John Ogilvie, and the Govern- 

 ment appointed, as my assistant, a surveyor named Wilkins, and 

 he took with him a young man named Sidney Savage, who was 

 an old pupil of mine and a fearless young scamp. I just had the 

 four. 



Early in May, 1879, I started for Winnipeg by way of St. Paul 

 and reached there in due time. The day I arrived at Winnipeg, a 

 boat was preparing to start for Fort Ellice on the Assiniboine, 

 which would take me two hundred miles into the interior without 

 effort. I immediately saw the Captain and asked him if he would 

 remain one day longer and I would proceed with him and take 

 my outfit and men on the steamer. He agreed at once and, in 

 one day, I bought my whole outfit and arranged for my horses 

 and hired John Matheson, native of Winnipeg, to whom the horses 

 belonged, for him to take the horses overland to Fort Ellice and 

 I bought the carts and our summer's provisions and all the neces- 

 saries for the expedition and placed them on the boat and I was 

 ready to start the next morning after one day in Winnipeg. 



The boat was loaded to her utmost capacity and, as there 

 were large numbers of surveyors and their men on board, there 

 was no accommodation for me. My assistant, as I found him in 

 all cases, looked out for himself, without reference to me, and 

 obtained a very comfortable location. Mr. W. F. King, the as- 

 tronomer who lately died, said to me, "Macoun, how is it that you 

 have no berth?" I told him that there were none left. "Why," 

 he said, "Your assistant has a fine berth." And I said that I 

 knew this but that there was not one for me too. "Oh," he said, 

 "You are one of the gentlemen here and I will inform the Captain 

 that Mr. Wilkins has taken your berth and you will get a hint to 

 go to bed early." The result was as I have said, Wilkins was 

 shifted and he had to look out for himself the same as the rest. 



