La Grande Riviére en Bas 2

pride, were loyal and entirely at one with him, within certain
limits, when the work was what they were accustomed to.
‘The Indians of course lacked vision, interest, in fact all
objective beyond that of the prestige they were to acquire
as companions of the “Great Chief,’ and the compensation
which would be theirs for services that Mackenzie could at
no time dispense with.

‘The next day found them bounding along at an exhilarating
rate among rocky islands which seemed to indicate a near
approach to rapids or falls. The river boiled around them,
producing a hissing noise like a kettle of seething water.
The hissing was probably due to the presence in the water
of particles of sand in great quantity which were forced up
against the under surface of the canoe in a continuous
sand-blast, making a scraping sound which is ‘“‘felt” rather
than heard.

High mountains on both sides hemmed them in, narrowing
the stream to one and a half miles, and finally to half a mile.

Their camp-fires flared that night on the north shore at
the foot of a high hill which in some parts rose sheer from
the river. This is probably the elevation that has come to be
known as “‘Roche-qui-trempe-l’Eau,” opposite the present
site of Wrigley. Ascending the hill with two men, after
an hour and a half’s hard walking Mackenzie gained the
summit, and was surprised to find it crowned by an encamp-
ment. “The Indians informed me that it was the custom
of the people who have no arms to choose these elevated
spots for the places of their residences, as they can render
them inaccessible to their enemies, particularly the Kniste-
neaux,' of whom they were in continual dread. The prospect
from this height was not as extensive as we expected, as it
was terminated by a circular range of hills of the same

1 Crees.
E