79 



CHAP. IV. 



KAINY LAKE TO THE SOURCE OF THE WINNIPEG EIVER. 



Rainy Lake. — Description of. — Rainy River. — Affluents of Rainy River. — 

 Fort Frances. — Lac la Pluie Indians. — Valley of Rainy River. — Cha- 

 racter of the Valley. — The Winter Road to the Lake of the Woods. — 

 Arrangement for crossing the Swamps to Red River direct from the 

 Lake of the Woods. — Fertility of Rainy River. — The Manitou Rapids. 

 — Obstructions to Navigation. — The Long Rapids. — Indian Encamp- 

 ments. — Tumuli. — Graves. — Banks of Rainy River. — Caterpillars. — The 

 Lake of the Woods. — Beauty of the Lake of the Woods. — Conferva?. 

 — Garden Island. — Refraction. — Indians. — A Council. — Its Results. 

 ■ — Grasshoppers. — Shoal Lake. — North West Corner of the Lake. — Monu- 

 ment Bay. — Route to Rat Portage. — Indians. — Sturgeon. — Polished 

 Rocks. 



In 1826 a map of Eainy Lake, as part of the survey 

 under the seventh article of the treaty of Ghent between 

 Great Britain and the United States, was constructed by 

 David Thompson, Astronomer and Surveyor. No labour 

 was spared in producing a correct delineation of the 

 geographical features of this part of the country, and the 

 portion of the map accompanying this narrative, which 

 includes Eainy Lake, Eainy Eiver, and the Lake of the 

 Woods, besides the Pigeon Eiver referred to in the previous 

 chapter, is reduced from an authorised copy of those parts 

 of the survey. Dr. Bigsby, who accompanied the Com- 

 missioners as Geologist, communicates the chief facts in 

 the following enumeration of the geographical position, 

 &c., of Eainy Lake, in the Quarterly Journal of the 

 Geological Society for May, 1851.* 



* On the Geology of Rainy Lake, South Hudson's Bay. By Dr, J. J. 

 Bigsby, F.aS. ; &c. 



