25 

 the ox, strange to say, was bettor in the miry bottom and the 

 horse the better for the steep bank ; for the cloven hoof 

 parted in the mire, giving a better footing to aid his patient 

 and great strength ; Mobile the horse's hoofs gave him a better 

 hold on the slippery bank ; both needed aid however when a 

 deep slough was reached or streams of the kind I have men- 

 tioned had to be crossed; at such places, if not very bad, the 

 rope was attached to each cart as it came up and live or six 

 of the men at the further end aided the struggling ox or 

 horse just at the right moment ; but when the bog or slough 

 was very bad indeed, then the animals were taken out to hnd 

 their own way over, while the whole force of brigade men 

 pulled the loaded cart through. 



Mauy a thousand tons of freight have been carried over 

 this road, and a brigade frequently meant hundreds of carts ; 

 on the fall tri}) they generally went down light, the buffalo 

 robe catch having been carried in closely compressed bales of 

 ten robes each by the spring brigades, the ari'ival of which in 

 St. Paul was an event not only to the fur-buyers, but to the 

 people of the place, who lined the side- walks as the long train 

 of squeaking, fur-laden carts passed through, and English 

 half-crowns and sovereigns were to be had at almost any of 

 the shops, all of which eagerly sought the Red River trade. 



It is time however that I came back to our own exper- 

 iences of travel, some of which were amusing afterwards, but 

 very puzzling and annoying at the time. One of these was 

 the crossing of the Red Lake, the largest river on the route. 

 A winding track through large elm trees had brought us 

 down to its brink, and here we could see the deep tracks of 

 loaded carts straight over the gravel shore and into the water ; 

 directly opposite were similar tracks on the other side. It 

 seemed all right, though the ford was at a place where the 

 water ran vety swiftly indeed. Pursuing our usual plan> 

 Bichon with the saddle tried the ford, but the water was soon 

 above his breast. He was brought back, and the tracks 

 going in and coming out closely inspected* again to see if it 

 was straight across. Tried on foot with a long pole to keep 



