THE TKIP TO WAHPOOSKOW 141 



Wahpooskow had its superstitions and some doubtful cus- 

 toms. For instance, an Indian called ISTepapinase — " A 

 Wandering Bolt of Night-Lightning" — lost his son when 

 Mr. Ross was there taking adhesion to the Treaty, and 

 spread the report that he had brought " bad medicine." 

 Polygamy was practised, and even polyandry was said to 

 exist ; but we had no time to verify this gossip, and no right 

 to interfere if we had. 



On the 6th, a lovely fall morning, we bade good-bye to 

 Wahpooskow, its primitive people, and its simple but ample 

 pleasures. Autumn was upon us. Foliage, excepting in the 

 deep woods, was changing fast, the hues largely copper and 

 russet ; hard body-tints, yet beautiful. There were no maples 

 here, as in the East, to add a glorious crimson to the scene; 

 this was given by shrubs, not by trees. The tints were cer- 

 tainly, in the larger growths, less delicate here than there; 

 the poplar's chrome was darker, the willow's mottled chrome 

 more sere. But there was the exquisite pale canary of the 

 birch, the blood-red and yellow of the wild rose, which glows 

 in both hues, the rich crimson of the red willow, with its 

 foil of ivory berries, and the ruddy copper of the high-bush 

 cranberry. These, with many other of the berry bearers 

 and the wild-flowers, yielded their rich hues; so that the 

 great pigments of autumn, crimson, brown and yellow, were 

 everywhere to be seen, beneath a deep blue sky strewn with 

 snowy clouds. 



We were now on the return to Pelican Landing, with but 

 few incidents to note by the way, aside from those already 

 recorded. But having occasion to take a declaration at a 

 cabin on our passage along the first lake, we had an 

 opportunity of visiting a hitherto unobserved stratum of 

 Wahpooskow's society. 



The path to the cabin and its tepees led up a steep bank, 

 beaten as hard as nails and as slippery as glass ; nevertheless, 

 by clutching the weeds which bordered it, mainly nettles, we 

 got on top at last, where an interesting scene met the eye. 



