Page:Narrative of the Discoveries on the North Coast of America.djvu/64

 the Saulteaux. Several of them visited us in the evening, with a supply of fresh fish, for which they were liberally paid; and a share of our supper, and our news, made the poor fellows quite happy.

12th.—We now left behind us, with pleasure, the tedious large lakes; and, after suspending our iron shoes to the trees, with the first faint streak of day (between six and seven o'clock) we struck out across land for Swan River. The path was very intricate, and in many places imperceptible to the keenest ordinary eyes; but one of my native companions knew it well, and set us right when at fault. As an instance of the almost instinctive knowledge which guides the Indian unerringly through the pathless forest, I may here mention that this track was first marked out by one who was an utter stranger to the country it traverses, and had merely been once at Swan Lake from a different quarter; yet, though somewhat winding in its course, in order to follow the best ground, I found its general direction uniformly the same. There was still so little snow on the ground, that, though our tiny vehicles needed a track no more than eighteen inches wide, the sharp twigs and fallen timber tore the luckless cariole to tatters. Our route lay through woods, small lakes, and swamps ; the