Page:Narrative of the Discoveries on the North Coast of America.djvu/109

 required for hauling firewood to the place are maintained, during the long winter of seven months, upon coarse grass cut in the swamps, and, when that fails, upon fish.

May, like April, was a fine month; but, till near its close, there was little sultry weather. Swallows appeared about the houses on the 19th; and, during the whole month, the geese, on their northward migration, afforded the native camp food, and the Fort sportsmen amusement. The environs of the lake, for miles, resounded with the fusilade, as if bands of skirmishers, hotly engaged, were scattered over the country.

On the 11th we had a smart thunderstorm; and another, more distant, a few days afterwards: these were the only ones of the spring. Owing to the general coolness of the season, and the low state of the waters, the ice lingered on the lake until the 22nd; a party of Indians having crossed it, opposite the Fort, only the day before. It continued alternately driving and stopping for several days.