We Passed Today Through Several Nameless Lakes And Swamps Before
We Came To Train Lake Which Received Its Name From Being The Place Where
The Traders Procured The Birch To Make Their Sledges Or Traineaux; But
This Wood Has Been All Used And There Only Remain Pines And A Few
Poplars.
We met some sledges laden with fish, kindly sent to meet us by
Mr. Clark of the Hudson's Bay Company on hearing of our approach.
Towards
the evening the weather became much more unpleasant and we were exposed
to a piercingly cold wind and much snowdrift in traversing the Isle a la
Crosse Lake; we were therefore highly pleased at reaching the Hudson's
Bay House by six P.M. We were received in the most friendly manner by Mr.
Clark and honoured by volleys of musketry. Similar marks of attention
were shown to us on the following day by Mr. Bethune, the partner in
charge of the North-West Company's fort. I found here the letters which I
had addressed from Cumberland in November last to the partners of the
North-West Company in the Athabasca, which circumstance convinced me of
the necessity of our present journey.
These establishments are situated on the southern side of the lake and
close to each other. They are forts of considerable importance being
placed at a point of communication with the English River, the Athabasca
and Columbia Districts. The country around them is low and intersected
with water, and was formerly much frequented by beavers and otters which
however have been so much hunted by the Indians that their number is
greatly decreased.
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