88 THE GREAT NORTH-WEST 



had seen since commencing our journey on the lakes. 

 Many of the small mammals are nocturnal in their 

 habits, which, no doubt, accounts for their being but 

 seldom seen. The best way of testing their presence 

 and number in a district, is to set traps overnight, 

 when, if they are numerous, some are sure to be caught. 

 Thus, the accidental killing of this musquash set the 

 Indians to making springes, and placing them before 

 every likely -looking rat-hole along the banks, with the 

 result that five more musquash were found captured in 

 the morning. These springes are made with wire, which 

 we had with us for this purpose. Many small mammals 

 and birds were afterwards caught in them, and as they 

 are usually entangled by the neck, they are almost always 

 dead when found in the morning. Birds can be caught 

 with springes made of bents, &c., but rodents, like the 

 musquash, will bite through these and escape. It is 

 astonishing what a lot of small pelts will be collected 

 by a skilful trapper, or Indian, without expending a 

 smgle charge of powder. I have known some of these 

 men have nearly two hundred traps, of various sorts, 

 set about a district a few miles square — as many, in 

 fact, as he could possibly attend to. 



Near the northern end of Winnipeg we entered a 

 small stream known as the Jack River, though I could 

 not find it entered on my map by that or any other 

 name. It is a stream which connects several small 

 lakes together, and though it was practically currentless, 

 empties, I suppose, the waters of Winnipeg and these 

 small lakes into the Nelson River, which carries them 

 into Hudson Bay. 



The same night we arrived at another of the Com- 

 pany's depots or stations — Norway House, which is 

 situated at the embouchure of the Jack River. The first 

 notice we had of the approach to this house was a flag- 

 staff fixed on a high rock with the Union Jack floating 

 from it, the house itself being hid in a snug ravine. 



