92 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



a situation chosen for the purpose of killing 

 geese and ducks. 



On the 1 6th we proceeded eighteen miles 

 up the Saskatchawan. Its hanks are low, 

 covered with willows, and lined with drift 

 timber. The surrounding country is swampy 

 and intersected by the numerous arms of 

 the river. After passing for twenty or 

 thirty yards through the willow thicket on 

 the banks of the stream, we entered an ex- 

 tensive marsh, varied only by a distant line 

 of willows, which marks the course of a 

 creek, or branch of the river. The branch 

 we navigated to-day, is almost five hundred 

 yards wide. The exhalations from the 

 marshy soil produced a low fog, although 

 the sky above was perfectly clear. In the 

 course of the day we passed an Indian en- 

 campment of three tents, whose inmates ap- 

 peared to be in a still more miserable con- 

 dition than those we saw yesterday. They 

 had just finished the ceremony of conjura- 

 tion over some of their sick companions; 

 and a dog, which had been recently killed 

 as a sacrifice to some deity, was hanging to 



