g ridges of rock and swamp and forest, and placed
again upon the northward rolling river. But other difficulties had to be
overcome which delayed at the outset the movements of the Expedition. A
road, leading from Lake Superior to the height by land (42 miles), had
been rendered utterly impassable by fires which swept the forest and
rains which descended for days in continuous torrents. A considerable
portion of this road had also to be opened out in order to carry the
communication through to Lake Shebandowan close to the height of land.

For weeks the whole available strength of the Expedition f had been
employed in road-making and in hauling the boats up the rapids of the
Kaministiquia River, and it was only on the 16th of July, after seven
weeks of unremitting toil and arduous labour, that all these preliminary
difficulties had been finally overcome and the leading detachments of
boats set out upon their long and perilous journey into the wilderness.
Thus it came to pass that on the morning of the 4th of August, just three
weeks after that departure, the silent shores of the Rainy River beheld
the advance of these pioneer boats who thus far had "marched on without
impediment."

The evening of the day that witnessed my arrival at Fort Francis saw also
my departure from it; and before the sun had set I was already far down
the Rainy River. But I was no longer the solitary white man; and no
longer the camp-fire had around it the swarthy faces of the Swampies. The
woods were noisy with many tongues; the night was bright with the glare
of many fires. The Indians, frightened by such a concourse of braves, had
fled into the woods, and the roofless poles of their wigwams alone marked
the camping-places where but the evening before I had seen the red man
monarch of all he surveyed. The word had gone forth from the commander to
push on with all speed for Red River, and I was now with the advanced
portion of the 60th Rifles en route for the Lake of the Woods. Of my old
friends the Swampies only one remained with me, the others had been kept
at Fort Francis to be distributed amongst the various brigades of boats
as guides to the Lake of the Woods and Winnipeg River; even Thomas Hope
had got a promise of a brigade-in the mean time pork was abundant; and
between pride and pork what more could even Hope desire?

In two days we entered the Lake of the Woods, and hoisting sail stood out
across the waters. Never before had these lon