120 THKOUGH THE MACKENZIE BASIiT 



the North for its abundance of waterfowl, far surpassing the 

 St. Clair flats, or any other region in the East. 



Next morning, upon rounding a point, .three full-grown 

 moose were seen ahead, swimming across the river. An 

 exciting, and even hazardous, scene ensued on board, the 

 whole Klondike crowd firing, almost at random, hundreds 

 of shots without effect. Two of the noble brutes kept on, 

 and reached the shore, disappearing iu the woods; but the 

 third, a three-year-old bull moose, foolishly turned, and lost 

 its life in consequence. It was hauled on deck, bled and 

 flayed, and was a welcome addition to the steamer's table. 



That night a concert was improvised on deck, in which 

 the music-hall element came to the front. But one speedily 

 tired of the " Banks of the Wabash," and other ditties ; 

 in fact, we were burning to get to Fort McMurray, where 

 we expected letters and papers from the outer world and 

 home, and nothing else could satisfy us. By evening 

 we had passed Burnt Point, also Poplar Point, where the 

 body of an unfortunate, called Patterson, who had been 

 drowned in "one of the rapids above, was recovered in spring 

 by some Indians, the body being completely enclosed in a 

 transparent coflBn of ice. On the following day we passed 

 Little Ked River, and next morning reached the fort, where, 

 to our infinite joy, we received the longed-for letters and 

 papers — our first correspondence from the far East. 



Port McMurray consisted of a tumble-down cabin and 

 trading-store on the top of a high and steep bank, which 

 had yet been flooded at times, the people seeking shelter on 

 an immense hill which overlooked it. Above an island close 

 by is the discharge of the Clearwater River, the old canoe 

 route by which the supplies for the district used to come, 

 via Isle a la Crosse. At McMurray we left the steamer and 

 took to our own boats, our Commission occupying one, and 

 Mr. Laird and party thfe other. The trackers got into har- 

 ness at once, and made very good time for some miles, the 

 current not being too swift just here for fast travelling. 



