THE LAC LA PLUIE INDIANS. 



83 



Potatoes are dug in the first week of October, and barley 

 is ripe by the middle of August. Snow falls here to the 

 depth of four feet. 



The great enemies to extended cultivation are the Lac 

 la Pluie Indians. They are not only numerous, but very 

 independent ; and although diminishing in numbers, they 

 frequently hold near Fort Frances their grand medicine 

 ceremonies, at which 500 and 600 individuals some- 

 times assemble. The number of Indians visiting this 



Ojibways at Fort Frances, Kainy Kiver. 



fort for the purpose of trade, reaches 1,500. They do 

 not scruple to jump over the fences, and run through the 

 growing crops, if the ball in their games is driven in that 

 direction. 



In the immediate neighbourhood of Fort Frances, the 

 swamp or morass bounding the valley of Eainy Eiver on 

 the right bank, is about half a mile in its rear. This 

 swamp, which extends from Eainy Lake to the Lake of 



