88 Thirty Years 
Ca 
the vicinity of this lake, but none of the migratory 
birds appeared near to the houses before the 15th, when 
some swans flew over. These are generally the first 
that arrive ; the weather had been very stormy for the 
four preceding days, and this in all probability kept 
the birds from venturing farther north than where the 
Indians had first seen them. 
In the middle of the month the snow-began to waste. 
daily, and by degrees it disappeared from the hills and 
the surface of the lake. On the 17th and 19th the 
Aurora appeared very brilliant in patches of light, 
bearing N.W. An old Cree Indian having found a 
beaver lodge near to the fort, Mr. Keith, Back, and I, 
accompanied him to see the method of breaking into 
it, and their mode of taking those interesting ani- 
mals. The lodge was constructed on the side of a 
rock in a small lake, having the entrance into it be- 
neath the ice. The frames were formed of layers of 
sticks, the interstices being filled with wood, and the 
outside was plastered with earth and stones, which 
the frost had so completely consolidated, that to break 
through required great labor, with the aid of the ice 
chisel, and the other iron instruments which the bea- 
ver hunters use. The chase, however, was unsuc- 
cessful, as the beaver had previously evacuated the 
lodge. 
The first geese we observed flying near to the -fort 
