Diary Excerpt
Tuesday, June 19
Leave camp at 8.25. A day of very heavy poling & tracking. But the men work well & the Fort is reached at 5.25 PM. Pick up a struggling prospector who could not work up the rapids alone. Small wonder. The Post unpretentious but most romantically situated on a hill above a small rapid with two charming lakes to north & south. There do not seem to be more than thirty families here – scarcely that many in fact. But they are a good looking lot. We had the usual fusilade though not so noisy or prolonged as at Abitibi. All the squaws & young women in the place lined up as we ascended the hill & we gravely shook hands with each in turn. Flies.
Wednesday, June 20
A brisk south breeze improves the fly situation. I took a
charming woodland walk in the morning. In the afternoon the treaty was smoothly concluded. It was signed on the part of the Indians by Chief Michel Baptiste, Round Eyes, Thomas Fox & James Pierce. The feast is ordered & everyone is happy. Fished for five minutes & got a pickerel. The fishing is wretched all the way up to Montreal. Ten Twenty miles further on good fishing is said to begin & Trout Lake is teaming with speckled trout. Heavy shower in afternoon & it is again raining hard as I write (6.45).
Thursday, June 21
Indians select reserve at Turtle Lake & hold their feast at noon. Payments were made at 3 PM. Seventy eight were paid. Rain at intervals through day.