If it be asked why I did not make a fire, when I had the necessary apparatus; I answer, that I had but a very small axe, quite unfit for felling so large timber as grew on the banks of this river; and I was, besides, so benumbed and exhausted as to be unequal to the task even of lighting a fire.

Sometime after my return from Montreal in the autumn of 1830, I went to pay a visit to one of my customers whose lands were at a considerable distance.  I was accompanied by one man in a small canoe; and as it was necessary that one of us should carry the canoe over the portages, and the other the property, I chose the former, being the lightest though by far the most inconvenient load.  I found it very oppressive at first, but use rendered it more easy.  This was the first time I carried a canoe.

On our return from the Indian’s camp we met with rather a disagreeable accident, while ascending a small and very rapid river.  In pushing forward the canoe against the stream, my pole happened to glance off a stone, and the canoe swinging round came in contact with the trunk of a tree projecting from the bank, and we, or at least I, was upset in an instant.  Fortunately the current, though strong, was smooth and free from whirlpools; so that, after swimming down a short distance in search of a landing-place, I rejoined my companion, whom I found standing on the bank perfectly dry.  On inquiring of him how he happened to avoid a ducking, he told me he sprang ashore while I was attempting to parry off the tree; doubtless his having done so was in a great measure the cause of the accident.  He, however, acted a very prudent part after landing, having caught hold of the canoe in the act of upsetting, and thus preserved the goods from being lost or damaged.

In the course of this year, the Iroquois and Algonquins were nearly coming to blows on account of the hunting-grounds.  This quarrel originated from a speech which Colonel McKay, then at the head of the Indian department, had addressed to the Iroquois, in which, making use of the metaphorical language of the people, he observed that Indians of all tribes ought to live together in the utmost concord and amity, seeing they inhabited the same villages, “and ate out of the same dish.”  This the Iroquois interpreted in a way more suitable to their own wishes than consistent with its real meaning.  “Our father,” said they, “tells us we eat out of the same dish with the Algonquins;—­he means that we have an equal right to the hunting-grounds.”  They proceeded, accordingly, to avail themselves of the supposed privilege.  The consequence was a very violent quarrel, in which Government was ultimately obliged to interfere.