296 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. 



with Indians. From Fort Francis to where Rainy 

 Eiver discharges itself into the Lake of the Woods, 

 a distance of seventy miles in a westerly direction, the 

 navigation is unbroken. There are rapids at two 

 places, but they can be run easily and safely; and 

 in ascending the stream, boats are tracked up them 

 without discharging cargo. 



At both, many Indian families are always en- 

 camped, as they are favourite spots for fishing, par- 

 ticularly during the winter, as the water never freezes 

 there. There are wide open spaces at these rapids, 

 covered when we passed with rich luxuriant grass, 

 small spots being under cultivation as gardens for 

 potatoes and Indian corn. There were also some 

 circular mounds of earth, one or two being about 

 twenty feet high. We had not time to land and 

 examine them, but the natives call them underground 

 houses, although not now used as habitations. 



It was a lovely day, and as there was a good 

 current in the river, we determined upon trying the 

 plan of drifting along it during the night. So, after 

 the evening meal, we again started, lashing the boats 

 together two and two, one man remaining awake in 

 each boat to steer, the others lying down to sleep as 

 best they could. As the sun went down, a dense 

 mass of curious-looking flies came streaming up with 

 the gentle westerly wind. They were nearly white, 

 with grey wings and pale-yellow bodies, having a tail 

 more than an inch long, consisting of what looked 



