North-West Continent of America. 



51 



with branches, where the natives had set snares to catch 

 white partridges. 



Saturday 18. The nets did not produce a single fish, 

 and at three o'clock in the morning we took our departure. 

 The weather was fine and clear, and we passed several 

 encampments. As the prints of human feet were very 

 fresh in the sand, it could not have been long since the 

 natives had visited the spot. We now proceeded in the 

 hope of meeting with some of them at the river, whither 

 our guide was conducting us with that expectation. We 

 observed a great number of trees, in different places, 

 whose branches had been lopped off to the tops. They 

 denote the immediate abode of the natives, and probably 

 serve for signals to direct each other to their respective 

 winter-quarters. Our hunters, in the course of the day 

 killed two rein-deer, which were the only large animals 

 that we had seen since we had been in this river, and proved 

 a very seasonable supply, as our Pemmican had become 

 mouldy for some time past ; though in that situation we 

 were under the necessity of eating it. 



In the vallies and low lands near the river, cranberries 

 are found in great abundance, particularly in favourable 

 aspects. It is a singular circumstance, that the fruit of 

 two succeeding years may be gathered at the same time, 

 from the same shrub. Here was also another berry, of 

 a very pale yellow colour, that resembles a raspberry, and 

 is of a very agreeable flavour. There is a great variety of 

 other plants and herbs, whose names and properties are 

 unknown to me. 



The weather became cold towards the afternoon, with 

 the appearance of rain, and we landed for the night at 

 seven in the evening. The Indians killed eight geese. 

 During the greater part of the day I walked with the Eng- 

 lish Chief, and found it very disagreeable and fatiguing. 

 Though the country is so elevated, it was one continual 

 morass, except on the summit of some barren hills. As 

 I carried my hanger in my hand, I frequently examined 

 if any part of the ground was in a state of thaw, but could 

 never force the blade into it, beyond the depth of six or 

 eight inches. The face of the high land, towards the 

 river, is in some places rocky, and in others a mixture of 

 sand and stone, veined with a kind of red earth, with 

 which the natives bedaub themselves. 



