Volume 1

ROUTE RESUMED—CYPRESS RIVER RAFTED. 417
of our party, whom I had left at Turtle mountain, arrived
this afternoon.
Aug. nth. At daybreak I was up preparing for my
departure, having sent T. Veaudrie [Vaudry] to Portage la
Prairie and kept Ducharme to attend me. I determined to
this being much
return home by the route of the Hair hills,
shorter than by way of Portage la Prairie. Mr. Chaboillez
and his party would not set off until the 14th or 15th,
having no horses to carry the baggage to Fort Dauphin.
At sunrise I bade him adieu and mounted, directing my
course E. S. E. At seven o'clock we crossed Riviere la
Souris for the last time, near the sturgeon barrier, upon a
shoal of gravel and sand in water only knee deep—the best
crossing-place I had seen in all my journey. We now
passed on through sandy hills to the level plain, where we
came in sight of the Hair hills. At eleven o'clock we
one o'clock we again
stopped to refresh our horses, and at
set off. We took the traverse for the mountain, but on
coming to Cypress river '^ found it had overflowed its banks
about three acres on each side, and could find no fordable
place. We were obliged to turn out of our way some miles
in going to where we perceived a large dry poplar tree and
a few stunted willows, but there we had the mortification to
find that the wood stood on the opposite side of the river.
There being no alternative, we unloaded our horses and
stripped. I crossed over, collected what brush I could find,
and with the poplar formed a raft so very slight as to
carry scarcely more than 50 pounds' weight. The mosquitoes
were intolerable, and as we were obliged to remain
naked for about four hours, we suffered more than I can
describe. The grass on each side was too high to haul our
raft through to dry land ; we could use it only on the river
by means of two long cords, one fastened to each end.
Ducharme hauled it over to his side, and after making it
'^
Present name ; a small tributary of the Assiniboine which drains from the
Pembina mts. northward. It is crossed by the C. P. Ry. at a station of the
same name.