LESSEE SLAVE EIVER AND LAKE 49 



stories were happily followed by an hour or two of song and 

 pleasantry in Mr. McKenna's tent, ending in " Auld Lang 

 Syne " and " God Save the Queen." It was a unique occa- 

 sion in which to wind up so laborious a day ; and our camp 

 itself was unique — on a lofty bluff overlooking the conflu- 

 ence of the Saulteau Eiver with the Lesser Slave — a bold 

 and beautiful spot, the woods at the angle of the two rivera, 

 down to the water's edge, showing like a gigantic V, as clean- 

 cut as if done by a pair of colossal shears. 



IText morning rowing took the place of poling and track- 

 ing for a time, and, presently, the great range of lofty hills 

 called, to our right, the Moose Watchi, and to our left, the 

 Tuskanatchi — the Moose and Easpberry Mountains — loomed 

 in the distance. Here, and when only a few miles from the 

 lake, a York boat came tearing down stream full of lithe, 

 young half-breed trackers — our long-expected assistants from 

 the Hudson's Bay Company's post, and whom we would have 

 welcomed much more warmly had they come sooner, for we 

 had little but the lake now to ascend, up which a fair breeze 

 would carry us in a single night. 



Doubtless it would have done so if it had come; but the 

 same head-winds and storms which had thwarted us from the 

 first dogged us still. We had camped near the mouth of 

 Muskeg Creek, a good-sized stream, and evidently the cause 

 hitherto of the Lesser Slave's rich chocolate colour ; for, above 

 the forks, the latter took its hue from the lake, but with a 

 yellowish tinge still. From this point the river was very 

 crooked, and lined by great hay meadows of luxuriant 

 growth. Skirting these, reinforced as we were, we soon 

 pulled up to the foot of the lake, where stood a Hudson's 

 Bay Company's solitary storehouse. There some change of 

 lading was made, in order to reach " the Island," some seven 

 miles up, and the only one in the lake, sails being hoisted for 

 the first time to an almost imperceptible wind. 



The island, where we were to camp simply for the night — 

 as we fondly thought — ^was found to be a sprawling jumble 



