DOWN THE PEACE EIVEE. ' 97 



the law against killing buffalo had not come to an end. I 

 said, " No ! the law is stricter than ever — very dangerous 

 now to kill buffalo." Asking him what he thought the band 

 numbered, he said, " About six hundred," and added, " "What 

 are we poor half-breeds to do if we cannot shoot them?" 

 Pointing out the abundance of moose in the country, and 

 that if they shot the buffalo they would soon be exterminated, 

 he still grumbled, and repeated, " What are we poor half- 

 breeds to do V I have no doubt whatever that they do shoot 

 them, since the band is reported to have diminished to about 

 250 head. Immediate steps should certainly be taken to 

 punish and prevent poaching, or this band, the only really 

 wild one on the continent, will soon be extinct. 



We were now on our boats again, and heading for the 

 Chutes, as they are called, the one obstruction to the naviga- 

 tion of Peace Eiver for over six hundred miles. We debarked 

 at the head of the rapids above the Grand Fall, and walked 

 to their foot along a shelving and slippery portage, skirting 

 the very edge of the torrent. The Crees call this Meatina 

 Powistik — " The Eeal Eapid " — the cataract farther on 

 being the Nepegabalietik — " Where the Water Falls." 



Eeturning to the " Decharge," I ran the rapids with Cyr 

 and Baptiste in one of the boats, a glorious sensation, remind- 

 ing one, thoiigh shorter, of the Grand Eapids of the Saskat- 

 chewan, the waves being great, and the danger spiced by the 

 tremendous vortex ahead. The rapids are about four hun- 

 dred yards in length, and extend quite across the river, which 

 is here of an immense width. A heavy but brief rainstorm 

 had set in, and it was some time before we could reload and 

 drop down to the head of the " Chaudiere," if I may call it 

 so, for the vortex much resembles the " Big Kettle " at 

 Ottawa. That night we spent in the York boat, its keel on 

 the rocks and painter tied to a tree, and, lulled by the roar 

 of the cataract, slept soundly until morning. 



These falls cut somewhat diagonally across the river, the 

 vortex being at the right bank, and close in-shore, concentred 

 7 



