"March 28. - At 7.30 a.m. all hands turned out to clear the channel to
the lake; this was about 500 yards long, and the diahbeeah, leading the
way, entered the lake at 11.30 a.m. Unfortunately a shallow channel near
the entrance prevented the steamers from entering, thus a passage had to
be dug in the tough clay beneath them. The wind strong from the south. I
am afraid the north wind has deserted us for the season.
"Having entered the lake, I went about a mile and a half ahead in my
diahbeeah, and anchored for the night in a broad and shallow portion of
the water, a forest being about a mile distant on the east bank: this
was a good sign of terra firma, but there was no dry spot upon which we
could land.
"The river winds to the S.E., and apparently then turns to the west. The
effluent through which we joined this lake or river meets it at right
angles, and the river continues its course to the N.N.W., as though it
were the main channel of a far more important stream than the horrible
ditch by which we arrived.
