ing stationed looking out, when the deer
get into the water to swim across, the lake being narrow at this end,
they attack and kill the animals with spears out of their canoes. In
this way they secure their winter provisions before the severity of
that season sets in.

There were other old remains of different kinds peculiar to these
people met with about the lake.

One night we encamped on the foundation of an old Red Indian wigwam,
on the extremity of a point of land which juts out into the lake, and
exposed to the view of the whole country around. A large fire at night
is the life and soul of such a party as ours, and when it blazed up at
times, I could not help observing, that two of my Indians evinced
uneasiness and want of confidence in things around, as if they thought
themselves usurpers on the Red Indian territory. From time immemorial
none of the Indians of the other tribes had ever encamped near this
lake fearlessly, and, as we had now done, in the very centre of such a
country; the lake and territory adjacent having been always considered
to belong exclusively to the Red Indians, and to have been occupied by
them. It had been our invariable practice hitherto to encamp near
hills, and be on their summits by the dawn of day, to try to discover
the morning smoke ascending from the Red Indians' camps; and, to
prevent the discovery of ourselves, we extinguished our own fire
always some length of time before day-light.

Our only and frail hope now left of seeing the Red Indians lay on the
banks of the River Exploits, on our return to the sea-coast.

The Red Indians' Lake discharges itself about three or four miles from
its north-east end, and its waters from the River Exploits. From the
lake to the sea-coast is considered about seventy miles; and down this
noble river the steady perseverance and intrepidity of my Indians
carried me on rafts in four days, to accomplish which otherwise, would
have required, probably, two weeks. We landed at various places on
both banks of the river on our way down, but found no traces of the
Red Indians so recent as those seen at the portage at Badger Bay-Great
Lake, towards the beginning of our excursion. During our descent, we
had to construct new rafts at the different waterfalls. Sometimes we
were carried down the rapids at the rate of ten miles an hour or more,
with considerable risk of destruction to the whole party, for we were
always together on one raft.

What arrests