3i ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 



very uncomfortable for the rest of the day and during the 

 ensuing night. It was the last of twenty thunder storms 

 which we had encountered since entering the prairies on 

 the 14th of June, and was only second to one in violence 

 and sublimity. 



Anxious to get on, we pulled at the sweeps until after 

 dusk, having reached an island about four miles from 

 Thunder Island. We found a sheltered cove, and all 

 slept in the boat, there being no spot on the boulder- 

 beach, or barrier, on which we could discover six feet of 

 level ground. 



Sept. 29th. — "When morning dawned, which it did in a 

 drenching, cold rain, we found the boat attached to one 

 of the stony barriers which protect certain aspects of the 

 islands, or main shore. The ever-present marsh lay be- 

 tween us and the timber we needed for fuel ; but the 

 wind now rising to a gale, compelled us to remain satisfied 

 with an exploration of our boulder barrier to its utmost 

 limits. It was about one hundred yards broad, two to 

 three miles long, and consisted of waterworn masses of 

 limestone and gneiss, with limestone gravel between them. 

 The marsh which separated it from the island was full of 

 weeds, and harboured wild fowl, some of which we suc- 

 ceeded in killing. 



The steersman found great difficulty in discovering the 

 mouth of Partridge Crop Eiver, or St. Martin Eiver as it 

 is also called. A maze of rushes extending inland, as far 

 as the eye can see, hides it from view. Half a mile up 

 the stream we saw the houses of the Mission, established 

 but afterwards abandoned, by the Eev. Mr. Cowley. All 

 -the houses were in ruins, and tenantless. The whole 

 country is very low, and liable to be flooded in the 

 autumn and spring. There are not more than a few 

 hundred acres of land, elevated four or five feet above the 



