wo days before his death I was
surprised to observe him sitting for nearly three hours, in a piercingly
sharp day, in the saw-pit, employed in gathering the dust, and throwing
it by handfuls over his body, which was naked to the waist. As the man
was in possession of his mental faculties, I conceived he was performing
some devotional act preparatory to his departure, which he felt to be
approaching, and induced by the novelty of the incident, I went twice
to observe him more closely; but when he perceived that he was noticed,
he immediately ceased his operation, hung down his head, and by his
demeanour, intimated that he considered my appearance an intrusion. The
residents at the fort could give me no information on the subject, and I
could not learn that the Indians in general observe any particular
ceremony on the approach of death.

_November 15_.--The sky had been overcast during the last week; the sun
shone forth once only, and then not sufficiently for the purpose of
obtaining observations. Faint coruscations of the Aurora Borealis
appeared one evening, but their presence did not in the least affect the
electrometer or the compass. The ice daily became thicker in the lake,
and the frost had now nearly overpowered the rapid current of the
Saskatchawan River; indeed, parties of men who were sent from both the
forts to search for the Indians, and procure whatever skins and
provisions they might have collected, crossed that stream this day on
the ice. The white partridges made their first appearance near the
house, which birds are considered as the infallible harbingers of severe
weather.

_Monday, November 22_.--The Saskatchawan, and every other river, were
now completely covered with ice, except a small stream not far from the
fort through which the current ran very powerfully. In the course of the
week we removed into the house our men had prepared since our arrival.
We found it at first extremely cold notwithstanding that a good fire was
kept in each apartment, and we frequently experienced the extremes of
heat and cold on opposite sides of the body.

_November 24_.--We obtained observations for the dip of the needle and
intensity of the magnetic force in a spare room. The dip was 83 deg. 9' 45",
and the difference produced by reversing the face of the instrument 13 deg.
3' 6". When the needle was faced to the west it hung nearly
perpendicular. The Aurora Borealis had been faintly visible for a short
time the p