THE RED RIVER EXPEDITION. 277 



of which supplied a good supper to the several de- 

 tachments that had to spend the evening there. The 

 southern side is thickly wooded with very poor timber, 

 poplar being the prevailing tree ; indeed there is so 

 much rock and so little soil everywhere in this vicinity, 

 that it is only wonderful how anything can grow. A 

 portage of about three-quarters of a mile took us into 

 another lake about 8 miles long, our course over which 

 was due north ; Lac des Mille Lacs was reached from 

 it by a portage of over a mile in length. The latter 

 is a curiously-shaped and straggling expanse of water, 

 in which there are islands without number, many 

 being of sufficient size to have great bays stretching 

 for miles into them. One island so closely resembles 

 another that it is wonderful how any of us found our 

 way over the 20 miles to be travelled before we 

 reached the next portage. Even the brigade, fur- 

 nished with the most experienced guides, strayed 

 sometimes for hours out of their course. Steering 

 solely by the compass took one repeatedly into these 

 large bays ; and nothing is more disheartening than 

 finding one's self in a cul de sac after a pull for many 

 miles up one of these bays, and having to row back 

 again to search for another passage. Immediately as 

 we passed out of this lake we had the stream with us 

 all the rest of our voyage. 



Having steered for about the first 5 miles over this 

 lake a ^T.W. course, the general direction for more 

 than 100 miles is S. W. : a slight detour is then made 



VOL. i. T 



