52 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 



itself, that the men demanded a smoke before attempting 

 to cross. Our Ojibway half-breed, Wigwam, insisted 

 upon carrying the sledge hammer in addition to his pack, 

 declaring that he was accustomed to quaking bogs, and 

 we should have enough to do to get across without carry- 

 ing anything that might impede our progress. The sur- 

 face of the bog consisted of a thick elastic covering of 

 moss, sufficiently tough to bear our weight when passing 

 quickly over it, but if we stopped for more than half a 

 minute the moss slowly sank and a pool of water collected 

 around us. We marched, or rather trotted in single file, 

 about ten yards apart. The Indian who took the lead 

 passed nimbly over the surface, so also did the half- 

 breeds ; Mr. Fleming and I, however, two or three times 

 broke through with one leg, but succeeded in withdraw- 

 ing the unfortunate member without further damage than 

 immersion in water and mud emitting a very unpleasant 

 odour. Occasionally we rested on a narrow strip where 

 the tangled roots of a few willows afforded a firm footing. 

 The breadth of this bog was about one mile where we 

 crossed ; it was succeeded by a belt of tall reeds growing 

 in water one foot deep ; plunging and wading through 

 this, we arrived at a gently sloping ridge about eighteen 

 feet in altitude. On the other side of this ridge a narrow 

 deep swamp separated us from the foot of the mountain ; 

 wading through it we ascended a hill about forty feet 

 high, and found ourselves upon a dry terrace, on which 

 we determined to camp, having accomplished a distance 

 of about eleven miles. The men soon dispersed to hunt 

 rabbits ; a dozen were killed in a few minutes, skinned 

 and placed on sticks before the fire to roast. 



In passing through the swamps, we saw many fresh 

 moose tracks, — hunters' signs which aroused the Indian 

 and half-breeds to a high pitch of excitement, and caused 



