174 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



banished, nor recalled with the force of reality, by any act of the 

 mind, either to affect our determinations, or to sympathize with 

 another. The traveller soon forgets his sufferings, and at every future 

 journey, their recurrence is attended with diminished acuteness. 



It was not before the 10th or 12th of April, that the return of 

 the swans, geese, and ducks, gave certain indications of the advance 

 of spring. The juice of the maple tree began to flow, and the 

 women repaired to the woods for the purpose of collecting it. This 

 tree which abounds to the southward, is not, I believe found to the 

 northward of the Saskatchawan. The Indians obtain the sap by 

 making incisions into the tree. They boil it down, and evaporate 

 the water, skimming off the impurities. They are so fond of sweets, 

 that after this simple process, tkey set an extravagant price upon it. 



On the 15th fell the first shower of rain we had seen for six 

 months, and on the 17th the thermometer rose to 77° in the shade. 

 The whole face of the country was deluged by the melted snow. 

 All the nameless heaps of dirt, accumulated in the winter, now 

 floated over the very thresholds, and the long-imprisoned scents 

 dilated into vapours so penetrating, that no retreat was any security 

 from them. The flood descended into the cellar below our house, 

 and destroyed a quantity of powder and tea ; a loss irreparable in 

 our situation. 



The noise made by the frogs which this inundation produced, is 

 almost incredible. There is strong reason to believe that they 

 outlive the severity of winter. They have often been found frozen 

 and revived by warmth, nor is it possible that the multitude which 

 incessantly filled our ears with its discordant notes could have been 

 matured in two or three days. 



The fishermen at Beaver Lake, and the other detached parties 

 were ordered to return to the post. The expedients to which the 

 poor people were reduced, to cross a country so beset with waters, 

 presented many uncouth spectacles. The inexperienced were glad 



