On the 4th we embarked amidst a heavy rain and pursued our route down the
Echemamis. In many parts of the morass by which the river is nourished
and through which it flows, is intersected by ridges of rock which cross
the channel and require the boat to be lifted over them. In the afternoon
we passed through a shallow piece of water overgrown with bulrushes and
hence named Hairy Lake; and in the evening encamped on the banks of
Blackwater Creek, by which this lake empties itself into Sea River;
having come during the day twenty miles and three-quarters.
On the morning of the 5th we entered Sea River, one of the many branches
of Nelson River. It is about four hundred yards wide and its waters are
of a muddy white colour. After ascending the stream for an hour or two
and passing through Carpenter's Lake, which is merely an expansion of the
river to about a mile in breadth, we came to the Sea River Portage where
the boat was launched across a smooth rock to avoid a fall of four or
five feet.
PLAY GREEN LAKES.
Reembarking at the upper end of the portage we ran before a fresh gale
through the remainder of Sea River, the lower part of Play Green Lake
and, entering Little Jack River, landed and pitched our tents. Here there
is a small log hut, the residence of a fisherman who supplies Norway
House with trout and sturgeon. He gave us a few of these fish which
afforded an acceptable supper. Our voyage this day was thirty-four miles.
October 6.
Little Jack River is the name given to a channel that winds among several
large islands which separate Upper and Lower Play Green Lakes. At the
lower end of this channel Big Jack River, a stream of considerable
magnitude, falls into the lake. Play Green is a translation of the
appellation given to that lake by two bands of Indians who met and held a
festival on an island situated near its centre. After leaving our
encampment we sailed through Upper Play Green Lake and arrived at Norway
Point in the forenoon.
LAKE WINNIPEG.
The waters of Lake Winnipeg and of the rivers that run into it, the
Saskatchewan in particular, are rendered turbid by the suspension of a
large quantity of white clay. Play Green Lake and Nelson River, being the
discharges of the Winnipeg, are equally opaque, a circumstance that
renders the sunken rocks, so frequent in these waters, very dangerous to
boats in a fresh breeze. Owing to this one of the boats that accompanied
us, sailing at the rate of seven miles an hour, struck upon one of these
rocks. Its mast was carried away by the shock but fortunately no other
damage sustained.
