North-West Continent of America. 209 



undertaken to conduct us were not well understood by my 

 interpreters, who continued to be so displeased with their 

 journey, that they performed this part of their duty with 

 great reluctance. I endeavoured to persuade an elderly 

 man of this encampment to accompany us to the next tribe, 

 ,but no inducement of mine could prevail on him to com- 

 ply with my wishes, I was, therefore, obliged to content 

 myself with the guides I had already engaged, for whom 

 we were obliged to wait some time, till they had provided 

 shoes for their journey. I exchanged two halfpence here, 

 one of his present Majesty, and the other of the State of 

 Massachusett's Bay, coined in 1787. They hung as orna- 

 ments in children's ears. 



My situation here was rendered rather unpleasant by 

 the treatment which my hunters received from these peo- 

 ple. The former, it appeared, were considered as belong- 

 ing to a tribe who inhabit the mountains, and are the na- 

 tural enemies of the latter. We had also been told by one 

 of the natives, of a very stern aspect, that he had been stab- 

 bed by a relation of theirs, and pointed to a scar as a proof 

 of it. I was, therefore, very glad to proceed on my 

 journey. 



Our guides conducted us along the lake through thick 

 woods, and without any path, for about a mile and an half, 

 when we lost sight of it. This piece of water is about 

 three miles long and one broad. We then crossed a creek 

 and entered upon a beaten track, through an open country, 

 sprinkled with cypress trees. At twelve the sky became 

 black, and an heavy gust with rain shortly followed, which 

 continued for upwards of an hour. When we perceived 

 the approaching storm, we fixed our thin, light oil-cloth to 

 screen us from it. On renewing our march, as the bushes 

 were very wet, I desired our guides, they having no bur- 

 dens, to walk in front, and beat them as they went : this 

 task they chose to decline, and accordingly I undertook it. 

 Our road now lay along a lake, and across a creek thatraiv 

 mto it. The guides informed me, that this part of the 

 Country abounds in beaver : many traps were seen along 

 the road which had been set for lynxes and martens. About 

 a quarter of a mile from the place where we had been stop- 

 ped by the rain, the ground was covered with hail, and as 

 we advanced, the hailstones increased in size, some of 

 them being as big as musket-balls. In this manner was 

 tiie ground whitened for upwards of two miles. At five 



2c 



