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The men who were now with me left this place in the beginning of last May, and went to the Rainy Lake in canoes laden with packs of fur, which from the immense length of the voyage and other concurring circumstances is a most severe trial of patience and persever- ance. There they do not remain a sufficient time for ordinary repose, when they take a load of goods in exchange and proceed on their return, in a great measure, day and night. They had been arrived near two months, and all that time had been continually engaged in very toilsome labour, with nothing more than a common shed to protect them from the frost and snow. Such is the life which these people lead; and is continued with unremitting exertion till their strength is lost in premature old age.

The new year was greeted with volleys of musketry, and a special ration of rum and cakes. Mackenzie had to act the doctor to the local Indians, and he seems to have been surprised at the success of his treatments with improvised medicines. He fills the pages of his journal with reports of the weather, such information as he was able to pick up about the country, and observations on the habits

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