JOURNAL OF A VOYAGE THROUGH THE
tourfe was South-Weft about twelve miles, part of which was an extern
five fwamp, that was ‘Teldom lefs- than knee deep. In the couffe of the
afternoon we had feveral Ihowers of rain; I had attempted to take an
altitude, but it Was paft meridian. The Water of the- river before the
lodge was quite-ffill, and ëxpanded i-tfelf into the form o f a fmall lake. In
many other" places, indeed; it had aflumed the fame form.
It rained throughout the night, and it was' fevënïn the morning be-
fore the weather would allow us to proceed. The • guide brought me
five fmall boiled fifh, in a platter itfade of bark; fome of them were of
the carp kind, and'the reft of a fpecies for which I am not quali&e&'to
furnifh a name. .Having dried Our clothes, we let-off On -Our march
about right, and our guide very cheerfully-continued-to accompany Us*;
but he was not altogether fo intelligible as hisprédecef&rs in^urfertufei
We learned from him, however, that this lake/througfe wfrich the fiver
pafles,extends to the foot o f the mountain, and that heexpëOed tö meet
nine men, of a tribe which inhabits the North fide of the river.
In this part of our journey we Were fulprifed with the appearaiièè-of
feveral regular bafons, lbme of them furnifhed with Water, and tslte''others
empty; their flopefrom the edge to the bottom formed an angle o f about
forty-five degrees, and their perpendicular depth was ahout twelve feet.
Thofe that edgèsywhite
thfe empty ones were coveted "With grafs and Serb's, aiSdag which We
difeovered muftard, and mint. 'There were jalfo feVferal plates ‘from
whende the water appears to have retired, which are coveted with the
fame foil and herbage.
NORTH-WEST CONTINENT OF AMERICA.
Wemow proceeded along a very unevemeountryj the upper parts of
which t o ; covered with spopla®,* a little undeb-wood, and plenty of
grafs : the iMervehing;* vall^^were !^tered*:with xivulets-. From thefe
circa mftanees, and the generalj ap-pearance of vegetation, I could not ac*
count for «the. hppa^ent abfenoe« of animals of <svpsy -kind.
*97
*703-
M
3 ;^Atî two in the afeiinooro we arrived at the largëft river that we had
feen,cfiuce i.iv,e-»|eFt o.ur- chnoe, and which-forced its way between and
q$qr fthe.huge'ftones, that oppofed its? |currents Our couftf© was about
SouthvSo^jhTWeft- fixteen miles }along, -the river, which might here
jtiftify. the title,« of « a lake. The road was good, and our next courfe,
■ w h i c h Wcft^bÿ/l.Sfilâthj« brought- us >©n ward tén;-miles,-' where we
encamped,; fatigued and swot, it having rained three parts o f the- day.
Th&r^dr hhfwds with fiffijrahdmufi: fall- into the great- river, furehef
down than we had extended our voyage.
! A. heavy and cominaed rain fell through great part of-the hi^ht, arid aà
W© were in Tome meafuçe expôfed io it, ti-ine Was required to dry our
ifb.that'it was half pafWevett in -the morning before we were ready
to Jet out. As we;fdund-The country fo deftitute/of game, and forefeeling
the -difficulty o f procuring provifiohs for our réturn, I thought it pru-
djSnt to conceal haff a b a g of pemmican : | having fchtuff the ÏUdians,
and all my people éxcepï^wb/wè huried it under the fire-plàce, aS wè had
done on a ’former Jpccafion. We foon 'overtook, out party, atuf continued
dur route a&ohg the river-pr lake. Abofit twelve I h^fen altitude, '
Ibdt it was-inacca*ràtë from thè'éléktdihéfriof thè wëather. We continued
our ptogrefs’ï&îl #veT#fbe hff^obn, 'Whéxi'Thè- water fiégàn to ttarrbW,
Q q . and