RED RIVER EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 



Indians to the very small quantity of snow which fell on 

 the western slope during the winter of 1857. 



It is important to bear in mind that the voyage of the 

 expedition of 1858 was made under the great disadvan- 

 tages inseparable from unusually low water, and whatever 

 superiority the route appears to possess over that of the 

 Kaministiquia by Fort William, will be much more ap- 

 parent in ordinary seasons, when the lake and river levels 

 are from two to five feet above their present altitude. 



On our arrival at Moose Lake, May 12th, a glistening 

 sheet of solid ice overspread its surface, and seemed to 

 threaten a long delay ; but by noon on the following day, 

 under the influence of a hot sun and a gentle breeze, 

 lanes of water opened, through which we succeeded in 

 passing the canoes, and on the evening of the same day 

 a high wind, accompanied by rain, completely broke up 

 the ice in the higher lakes, and opened the communica- 

 tion. 



The part of the Pigeon Eiver route to which this 

 notice refers, commences at Arrow Lake, a fine expanse 

 of water close to White Fish Lake, lying in a north-easterly 

 direction, and within thirty miles of the Kaministiquia. 



From Arrow Lake, a short portage brings us into Eose 

 Lake on the course of the old North- West Company's 

 route, following the boundary line. 



The portages between Eose Lake and the Height of 

 Land are short and low, while the Height of Land Portage 

 is not 500 yards long, and does not rise above fifty 

 feet. The passage from the St. Lawrence water-shed to 

 that of Lake Winnipeg is short, easy, and dry, incom- 

 parably superior to the Prairie Portage, and the Great 

 Savanne on the Kaministiquia route. In consequence of 

 the very low stage of the water that year, numerous small 

 rapids were formed in the rivers connecting Gun Flint 



