80 Srp ALEXANDER MACKENZIE

of its people. He twice notes the arrival of
that strange warm wind known as a Chinook,
which licked up all the snow from the ground
and covered the ice on the river with water.
His remarks on the treatment of the Indian
women are interesting: “It is not uncom-
mon, while the men carry nothing but a gun,
that their wives and daughters follow with
such weighty burdens that if they lay them
down they cannot replace them, and that is a
kindness which the men will not deign to per-
form; so that during their journeys they are
frequently obliged to lean against a tree for
a small portion of temporary relief.” Once
he records with pleasure that, while walking
through the woods on a very cold day, he was
cheered by the lusty singing of a flock of
birds, which seem from his description to
have been White-winged Crossbills.

On April 20 “we were visited by our
summer companions the gnats and mus-
quitoes”, and spring came with a rush. The
ice went out of the river, and on May 8 six
canoes were sent down to Fort Chipewyan
laden. with furs and provisions; the trade