376 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 



The name is by no means an appropriate one, as it is far 

 from being round. The mean of some soundings I took was 

 twenty-eight feet, the greatest being thirty feet. On the 

 sand banks which are at the head of the lake were my- 

 riads of duck, and large numbers of geese were swimming 

 about in every direction, and a few great northern divers 

 or loons. We camped at a place about two and a half 

 miles down the river, called the Stony Barrier, the Cree 

 of which is Asinni-pichigakan. For about 100 yards in 

 length the river is full of large and small granite boulders, 

 rendering it quite impassable for the smallest canoe when 

 the water is low ; at this time the water jwas just high 

 enough to admit of us passing over it. 



Two miles down the river from this spot a little stream 

 brings in its gatherings from the prairies on the south, re- 

 joicing in the name Isquawistequannak Kaastaki, which 

 means, " where the heads of the women lie." A long 

 time ago two women, one a Cree and the other an Ojib- 

 way, were killed by the Mandans on the banks of this 

 stream ; their bodies were left unburied, and their skulls 

 are still lying there, from which circumstance the stream 

 derives its name. This was all my informant at Fort El- 

 lice knew of the story. The next creek which is dignified 

 with a name is the " Little Cut-arm," or Kiskipittonawe 

 sepesis, the origin of which I could not find out ; it flows 

 in from the north. 



A few miles further down, another creek, ten feet wide 

 and very rapid, joins the Qu'appelle on the other side; its 

 name is Pesquanamawe sepesis^ which may be rendered 

 into English " the Scissors Creek ; " it is not a very 

 literal translation, but is the best that can be given. 

 The incident to which it owes its name exhibits a 

 peculiar habit of the Indian, but is one that cannot 

 be told. Near this spot there is an exposure of rock 



