50 



EED RIVER EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 



perhaps convert Dog Lake into a magnificent sheet of 

 water, having in a westerly direction a farther extension 

 of at least 15 miles. It remains, however, to be as- 

 certained whether Dog Lake has not other outlets than 

 the one which leads through Little Dog Eiver. It is not 

 at all improbable that this may be the case. 



At our camp on the 9th of August, near the head of 

 a fall of 3^ feet named Barriere Portage, about 3 miles 

 below the mouth of Prairie Eiver, blue berries, not yet 

 ripe, were very abundant, showing a marked difference in 

 the climate of this spot and the Grand Falls, where some 

 days before we had found them perfectly ripe and in the 

 greatest profusion. The difference in elevation is about 

 542 feet. A quarter of a mile from the camp, in our 

 course up the river, we came upon a bare granite hill, 

 about 250 feet high, rising from the water's edge at an 

 angle of nearly 45°. Its surface consisted of smooth 

 rounded ridges, and 15 feet above the river a collection 

 of water-worn boulders, from 6 inches to 2 feet in dia- 

 meter, were deposited upon a ledge, leading to the infer- 

 ence that they had been left there by ice during spring 

 freshets, and so far showing some confirmation of the 

 statements of the Indians respecting the remarkable rise 

 of water in the valley during the spring months. 



The last portage on Dog Eiver, following the canoe 

 route to Fort Francis, is the Jourdain Portage, four miles 

 in an air line from the height of land, and thirty-seven 

 miles from Dog Lake by the windings of the river, ac- 

 cording to Mr. Gaudet, who measured the distance in 

 1858. It involves an ascent of 8*60 feet by a portage 6^ 

 chains long. A very short distance above it, the mouth 

 and windings of Prairie Eiver are seen with difficulty 

 through the tall rushes which seek to conceal its course 

 for a distance of 200 or 300 yards. Up this little 



