fast, I was obliged to put
a blanket over my shoulders, as I stood by the fire, for warmth. The
comfortable sensation however was, that we were free from the annoyance
and misery of the mosquitoes; cold, hunger, and thirst, are not to be
compared with the incessant suffering which they inflict. We waded
knee-deep through Owl River, in the afternoon of the 15th. The weather
was cold, and nothing was to be seen in the Bay but floating ice. It
was rather late before we pitched the tent, and we met with some
difficulty in collecting a sufficient quantity of drift wood on the
shore, to kindle a fire large enough to boil the kettle, and cook the
wild fowl that we had shot. The next day we forded Broad River, on the
banks of which we saw several dens, which the bears had scratched for
shelter: and seeing the smoke of an Indian tent at some distance before
us, in the direction we were going, we quickened our step, and reached
it before we stopped to breakfast. We found the whole family clothed in
deer-skins, and upon a hunting excursion from Churchill. The Indian, or
rather a half-breed, was very communicative, and told me that though he
was leading an Indian life, his father was formerly a master at one of
the Company's Posts, and proposed accompanying our party to the
Factory. He had two sons, he said, who were gone in the pursuit of a
deer; and, on quitting the encampment to travel with us, he would leave
some signs for them to follow us on their return. They were the
following, and drawn upon a broad piece of wood, which he prepared with
an axe.

[Illustration:

6 5 4 3 2 1

1. To intimate that the family was gone forward.
2. That there was a Chief of the party.
3. That he was accompanied by a European servant.
4. And also by an Indian.
5. That there were two Indians in company.
6. That they should follow.]

It is a common custom with the Indians to paint hieroglyphic characters
on dressed buffaloe skins or robes; and a variety of figures are drawn
on many of those which they barter at the Company's Posts. In the
representation of a victory achieved over an enemy, the picture of the
Chief is given, with the mark of his nation, and those of the warriors
who accompanied him. A number of little images point out how many
prisoners were taken; while so many human figures without heads shew
the number who were slain. Such are the expressive signs of a barbarous
people, i