On the 21st of July, the brigade of canoes left York factory for the upper country. Longmore, the chief, was well qualified for the task of leading the expedition. For many years he had served as lieutenant to Tomison, the "chief inland" of the dépôt at Cumberland House. Here he had acquired the difficult knack of dealing with the Indians, besides earning their love and respect. Thompson's immediate superior was Mitchell Oman, an old and experienced trader of the Company, to whom he had been assigned as clerk. Oman could neither read nor write, but he nevertheless impressed the lad by the unusual quality of his curious and inquisitive mind. During the tedious paddle into the interior, he drew from the pages of a retentive memory endless tales of the Company's early activities inland. "In those days," he declared, "our situation was by no means pleasant. The Indians were very numerous, and although by far the greater part behaved well, and were kindly to us, yet among such a number there will always be found bad men. To protect ourselves from them, we had to get a respectable chief to stay with us and assist us in trading, and prevent as much as possible the demands of these men." His valuable reminiscences were not lost upon the boy. As the boatmen slowly worked their way up the river, Thompson's eyes gazed for the first time on the country he was afterwards to know so well. Their course lay up the Hayes river, and thence, by way of Lake Winnipeg, to the Saskatchewan. Progress at first was rapid, even against the stream, for they were still in the low and marshy country that fringes the south-west corner of the Bay. Presently, however, they encountered the first of the many rapids which mark the descent of the river to the sea. At each of these, with monotonous reiteration, the packs were all heaved ashore and shouldered along the rugged path of the portage to the higher level of the river. At the same time, the face of the landscape suddenly altered. The marshy alluvial gave way to naked granite, and they entered the belt of dark and gloomy northern forest. As they passed through the heart of the rocky country, the character of the river was also changed. From point to point the stream was held back by ledges of granite which broke its progress, giving rise to an irregular chain of wide and deep lakes. Through these lakes they threaded their way until, reaching the end of the granite country, they saw before them the broad expanse of Lake Winnipeg, the "bad water" of the Indians. Sixty miles along its northern coast brought them to the point where the Saskatchewan, after a swift and unbroken course of over one thousand miles through the plains, plunges in a long series of cascades into the lake. Having portaged past these, and wended their way through the alluvial flats of Cedar lake, they came at last to Cumberland House, and the first stage of their journey was accomplished.