SWAMPS, RIDGES, AND BOGS. 



01 



before, in the exposure described as occurring on the flank 

 of the mountain, and from which the half-breeds had 

 taken small blocks to make pipes. A couple of pounds 

 of buck shot which I divided among the old man and his 

 sons, delighted them beyond measure, and in return, Ta- 

 wa-pit presented me with a new pipe, and the moune of a 

 moose. 



The hop grows in great luxuriance and abundance at 

 the south end of Dauphin Lake ; there is fine pasturage as 

 far as the old lake ridge, but the narrow strips of marsh and 

 quaking bog almost on a level with the dry portion show 

 that these extensive flats are liable to be submerged in 

 the spring. Starting at dawn, our course followed for a 

 few miles the shore of Dauphin Lake until we came to 

 Turtle Eiver, which having crossed in a small canoe, we 

 soon after took an easterly direction and entered a region 

 of swamp, ridge, and quaking bog of very formidable 

 character. During the whole of the afternoon our course 

 lay through marshes and bogs, separated by low ridges 

 covered with aspen. The horses were quite useless, and 

 frequently stuck fast ; when this occurred we were com- 

 pelled to carry the bedding and provisions to the nearest 

 ridge and help the wretched animals through the deep 

 bogs into which they sank at every step, breaking through 

 the elastic covering of moss which was generally of suffi- 

 cient strength to support a man running lightly over it, 

 but not tenacious enough to bear the weight of a horse. 

 Just as night closed in we arrived at a dry gravelly ridge 

 where there was a plentiful supply of dead aspen, from 

 which we made a roaring fire and soon dried our wet 

 clothes and blankets. The night was bitterly cold and 

 the exertion of wading for many hours together through 

 ice-cold water caused every limb to ache ; the Indian 

 guide thought nothing of it, and immediately after supper 



