488 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 



making his appearance at night-fall I despatched the 

 Blackfoot in search of him ; they both returned very late, 

 having wandered many miles along the coast, but brought 

 nothing with them. The Blackfoot half-breed (who had 

 received missionary instruction at Eed Eiver) attributed 

 the Ojib way's want of success to the fact of his hunting 

 on Sunday. 



Embarking at daylight on the 6 th we reached the Cat 

 Head at 2 p.m., after a hard paddle against an adverse 

 wind and rough sea. This bold headland consists of a 

 perpendicular escarpment of buff-coloured limestone in 



The Cat Head, Lake Winnipeg. 



massive horizontal layers, the top strata overhanging the 

 base ; the summit of the rock is thirty to thirty-five feet 

 above the lake, and is covered with drift and boulders to 

 the depth of three feet, on which grow scrubby poplar, 

 spruce, and tamarack. The water is quite deep up to the 

 foot of the cliff, and as no landing can therefore be 

 effected, I was unable to make a minute examination of 

 the rock. There is a series of low, arched caverns in the 

 base of the cliff, in which the waves and swells washing 

 to and fro make a singular hollow noise, and for this 

 reason the Indians think it is the abode of a manitou. 



