2 EXPLORATIONS IN THE FAR NORTH 



The Hudson's Bay Company's establishment is situated a mile 

 and a half above the " Fishery." It consists of two empty 

 warehouses at the steamboat landing, unused since the Cana- 

 dian Pacific Railway diverted the stream of traffic from the 

 Saskatchewan, and three log cabins, one of which is known as 

 the "store," another as the "big house," or clerk's residence, 

 and the third is too old and dilapidated for winter occupancy, 

 but I was compelled to lodge there as the big house was very 

 small. My cabin was built of hewed logs, chinked with moss 

 and daubed with clay. The autumnal "mudding" was poorly 

 done, and the second wash with muddy water, which is usually 

 applied after the frosts have come, failed to fill the cracks. 

 The floor was loose and allowed currents of cold air to rise con- 

 tinually, which the big box stove, though heated to a cherry 

 red could not overcome. The earth-floored Indian huts were 

 much warmer, though heated only by narrow fireplaces. 



Before leaving Winnipeg I had obtained a letter of credit 

 from the Hudson's Bay Company, or the "Company," as it is 

 known in the north, which enabled me to obtain supplies from 

 any post in Cumberland District, — embracing the Lower Sas- 

 katchewan and the country northward to Reindeer Lake. 

 Trade with the natives is carried on by barter. There is no 

 "sooneyow" (money) in circulation, though values are reckoned 

 in dollars and cents. 



I began collecting the day after my arrival, with the intention 

 of making as complete a list as possible of the birds of that 

 locality. I usually spent the forenoon in the bush and the 

 afternoon in making up the ten or twelve "skins." "Old' 

 Joe Atkinson, an English metis from Hudson's Bay, would 

 watch me by the hour, te-heeing with delight as each specimen 

 was prepared and placed in its fluffy, cotton shroud on the dry- 

 ing shelves. But the natives never quite understood why I 

 wished to collect the "pe-yas-is-ak" — little birds. 



The time was not all occupied, however, in collecting birds. 

 Though I was well acquainted with the topography of the sur- 

 rounding country, owing to my residence there during the 

 summer of '91, I had not yet found any human remains that 

 could be identified with certainty as belonging to Crees of 

 unmixed blood. Early in September, I was so fortunate as to 

 discover several burial places. 



