CUMBERLAND HOUSE. 447 



gales of Lake Winnipeg, than our little canoe, we reached 

 the mouth of Eed Eiver only twenty-four hours after him. 



On Saturday the 14th August we were aroused at day- 

 break, by the singing of the voyageurs of another brigade 

 of boats just arriving. It proved to be a detachment from 

 York Factory, bringing Mr. J. G. Stewart, chief trader, in 

 charge of Cumberland. Our canoe was not finished till 

 late in the afternoon, when I should have started had I 

 been supplied with a guide for Cedar Lake and the 

 Grand Eapid; but the only man that was competent 

 and willing to go, being one of Mr. Stewart's boatmen, 

 and they having received their usual holiday allowance 

 of rum on reaching their destination, no arrangement 

 could be made with him. I was consequently compelled 

 to remain till Monday. During the day, Mr. Stewart, 

 from whom I received the most kind and hospitable 

 attention, opened some packs and enabled me to get one 

 or two articles of clothing, of which I stood greatly in 

 need. 



Cumberland House, the chief depot or fort of the Cum- 

 berland District of the Hon. Hudson's Bay Company, is 

 situated on the south shore of Cumberland or Pine-Island 

 Lake; in latitude 53° 57' K, and in longitude 102° 20' 

 W. of Greenwich (according to Sir John Eichardson). 

 It is about two miles in an air line north of the Sas- 

 katchewan, on the north side of what is called " Pine 

 Island," a tract of land of considerable extent, between 

 the Saskatchewan and Pine-Island Lake, isolated by two 

 branch rivers connecting the lake with the Saskatchewan. 

 The stream we passed before reaching Pemmican Portage 

 is the western connection, and bears the name of Big- 

 Stone Eiver ; it is about six miles long by its windings, 

 and about two chains wide. When the water of the Sas- 

 katchewan is high, it passes through this channel or canal 



