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continuation of the same toils takes place in 

 bark canoes of an inferior size, through the 

 chain of lakes and streams that run from the 

 height of land westward to the Lake of the 

 Woods, Lake Winnepeg, and onwards to more 

 distant estabhshments of the company in the 

 remote regions of the north-west country. The 

 men employed in this service are called voy- 

 ageurs; they are robust, hardy, and resolute, 

 capable of enduring great extremes of fatigue 

 and privation for a long time with a patience 

 almost inexhaustible. In the large lakes they 

 are frequently daring enough to cross the deep 

 bays, often a distance of several leagued, in their 

 canoes, to avoid lengthening the route by coast- 

 ing them ; yet notwithstanding all the risks and 

 hardships attending their employment, thc}^ pre- 

 fer it to every other, and are very seldom in- 

 duced to relinquish it in favour of any more 

 settled occupation. The few dollars they re- 

 ceive as the compensation for so many priva- 

 tions and dangers are in general dissipated with 

 a most careless indifference to future wants, 

 and when at an end they very contentedly 

 renew the same series of toils to obtain a fresh 

 supply. Three leagues from La Chine is the 

 village of Pointe Claire, situated on a point 

 of land of the same name ; it contains from 90 

 to 100 houses, built with regularity, and form- 



