6 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 



the point of starting, one of the voyageurs suggested that 

 we should wait for a few minutes longer as he had ob- 

 served the water of the lake coming in at the mouth of 

 the river, and thought that the wind would soon blow 

 strong from the north, although at the time the sky was 

 clear and a calm prevailed. In less than half an hour a 

 fresh northerly breeze sprang up, scud appeared drifting 

 before it, and the w T aters of the lake flowed rapidly up 

 the river into the vast marshes which extend for many 

 miles inland at the southern extremity of Lake Winni- 

 peg. The weather at this season of the year is very 

 changeable, and renders boat navigation of the lake 

 rather hazardous. In anticipation of a storm, we made 

 ourselves as comfortable as circumstances would permit 

 on a low spit of sand, with the lake before us, the river 

 on our left hand, and interminable marshes east and south 

 of us. 



Soon after sunset, the breeze from the north rose into 

 a gale ; the water of the lake ran like a rapid up the 

 river channel into the swamps, and a terrific swell soon 

 set in from the lake, breaking upon the sandy beach with 

 a stunning noise. The water rose to within six inches 

 of the level of the spit on which our tent was pitched 

 and threatened every instant to submerge it. At 10 p.m., 

 the gale was at its height, and as we sat upon a stranded 

 trunk of a tree, looking out upon the lake, a truly mag- 

 nificent scene lay before us. Huge crested breakers 

 covered the lake as far as we could see through the 

 gloom, lighting up the coast with long glistening streaks 

 of white foam. The noise was so overpowering that we 

 had great difficulty in hearing one another speak; the 

 waves broke over the narrow spit which formed the low 

 bank of the river where our boat was moored and the 



