they were very liberal in their presents.  To avoid misunderstanding, he added that he would inform them exactly what it was that he required:  Three casks of gunpowder, four bags of shot and ball, two bales of tobacco, three kegs of rum, and three guns, together with knives, flints, and other articles.  He went on to say that he had already seen white men, and knew that they promised more than they performed.  He, personally, was a peaceful man, who contented himself with moderate views in order to avoid quarrels; nevertheless, he desired that an immediate answer should be given before the strangers quitted his lodge.  A hurried consultation took place, and Henry could do nothing but comply with the chief’s demands, for he was powerless to resist.  Having, therefore, intimated his acceptance of these demands, he was invited to smoke the pipe of peace, and then obtained permission to depart.  After this the goods demanded were handed over, but Chatik managed to snatch more rum from them before they got safely away.

[Footnote 13:  Elsewhere Henry observes the great numbers of pelicans to be seen on Lake Winnipeg.]

In the winter of 1776 Henry, who, together with his party, had received welcome hospitality from the Hudson’s Bay Company’s station at Cumberland House, resolved to reach the western region known as the Great Plains, or Prairies—­that immense tract of country through which flow the Athabaska, the Saskatchewan, the Red River, and the Missouri.  He and his party, of course, travelled on snowshoes, and their goods were packed on sledges made of thin boards, and drawn after them by the men.  The cold was intense, so that, besides wearing very warm woollen clothes, they were obliged to wrap themselves in blankets of beaver skin and huge bison robes.  On these plains there were occasional knolls covered with trees, which were usually called “islands”.  These provided the precious fuel which alone enabled the travellers to support the intense cold of the nights.

After fifteen days of very difficult travel, during which it had been impossible to kill any game, as the beasts were mostly hidden in the dense woods on these rare hillocks, the situation of his party became alarming.  They were now on the borders of the plains, and the trees were getting small and scanty.  On the twentieth day of their journey they had finished the last remains of their provisions.  But Henry had taken the precaution of concealing a large cake of chocolate[14] as a reserve in case of great need.  His men had walked till they were exhausted, and had lost both strength and hope, when Henry informed them of the treasure which was still in store.  They filled the big kettle with snow.  It held two gallons of water, and into this was put one square of the chocolate.  The quantity was scarcely sufficient to give colour to the water, but each man drank off a gallon of this hot liquor and felt much refreshed.  The next day they marched vigorously for six hours