48 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



interruptions, together with the various 

 collections of stones that are hid at high 

 water, render the navigation of the river 

 difficult ; but vessels of two hundred tons 

 burthen may be brought through the proper 

 channels as high as the Factory. 



The principal buildings are placed in the 

 form of a square, having an octagonal court 

 in the centre ; they are two stories in height, 

 and have flat roofs covered with lead. The 

 officers dwell in one portion of this square, 

 and in the other parts the articles of mer- 

 chandise are kept; the workshops, store- 

 houses for the furs, and the servants' houses 

 are ranged on the outside of the square, 

 and the whole is surrounded by a stockade 

 twenty feet high. A platform is laid from 

 the house to the pier on the bank for the 

 convenience of transporting the stores and 

 furs, which is the only promenade the resi- 

 dents have on this marshy spot during the 

 summer season. The few Indians who now 

 frequent this establishment belong to the 

 Swampy Crees. There were several of them 

 encamped on the outside of the stockade. 



