AN INDIAN'S IDEA OF MONEY. 



163 



aware of the worth of a beaver-skin in ordinary articles 

 of trade, such as powder, shot, tobacco, or tin- ware, but a 

 painted earthenware cup was something new to him ; 

 and his wife expressed great delight as she examined 

 with much minuteness the addition to her household goods. 



Eeturning nearly in our steps to the crossing-place, we 

 went over to the right bank of the Eoseau, and after 

 threading through a forest of fine oaks, about one quarter 

 of a mile deep, found ourselves emerging upon an open, 

 dry prairie", bounded on the east by the low wooded ridge 

 before noticed as occurring on the south side of the river. 

 The distant belt of woods, fringing Eed Eiver, might just 

 be seen in the far western horizon, the whole intervening 

 space being a rich and level prairie, without shrubs or 

 willows. On the bank at the crossing place the skeletons 

 of Indian wigwams and sweating-houses were grouped in 

 a prominent position, just above a fishing weir where the 

 Ojibways of this region take large quantities of fish in the 

 spring. The framework of a large medicine wigwam 

 measured twenty-five feet in length by fifteen in breadth ; 

 the sweating-houses were large enough to hold one man 

 in a sitting position, and differed in no respect from those 

 frequently seen on the canoe route between Lakes Superior 

 and Winnipeg, and which have been often described by 

 travellers. 



Six miles from the Eoseau, Still Water Creek occurs ; 

 its waters are deep, and, as its name implies, sluggish, 

 or almost stagnating. Between Still Water Creek and 

 Eat Eiver some marshy spots occur, while on the right 

 the ridge, wooded with aspen, continues in the direc- 

 tion of the Eapids of Eed Eiver, near which spot it is 

 found within four miles of the banks of the main stream. 

 Eat Eiver is an insignificant brook coming from the Great 

 Muskeg, which occupies the height of land to the east of 



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