Page:Narrative of the Discoveries on the North Coast of America.djvu/68

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give us admittance and a hearty welcome. Our day's journey was thirty-seven miles, but being able to use snow-shoes for a part of it, materially lightened the fatigue.

Fort Pelly is a compact well-ordered little place, sheltered from the north by a range of woods, with the Assiniboine winding a short distance in front. The only Indians there, during our visit, were a Saulteaux family, who, having suffered from privation, were kindly received, housed, and fed till they could resume the chase with a prospect of success. My observations place the establishment in lat. 51° 46' 20" N., long. 102° 5' W. Variation 17" E.

Sunday the 18th was made a day of rest and thankfulness. The sky was bright and cloudless, the thermometer standing at minus 25°.

On the 19th the temperature fell to —44°; but, being amply supplied with all things necessary, we took our departure in the forenoon. Our path was an Indian horse-track, which now wound beneath, now ascended, a line of gently undulating eminences, while on our left lay the woods that border the tortuous course of the Assiniboine. In the evening we crossed that river where it turns to the north, and encamped in a small group of poplars. The night was intensely cold, and I literally burned my fingers