BACK'S LAND EXPEDITION. 226 



rapids, with falls and whirlpools, kept the men, for 

 eighty or ninety miles, in a constant state of exertion 

 and anxiety. 



He gives an instance, on one occasion, of the consum- 

 mate skill of De Charloit, a half-breed canoe-man, who 

 " ran our rickety and shattered canoe down four success- 

 ive rapids, which, under less able management, would 

 have whirled it, and everybody in it, to certain destruc- 

 tion. Nothing could exceed the self-possession and 

 nicety of judgment with which he guided the frail thing 

 along the narrow line between the high waves of the 

 torrent and the returning eddy. A foot in either direc- 

 tion would have been fatal ; but, with the most perfect 

 ease, and, I may add, elegant and graceful action, his 

 keen eyes fixed upon the run, he kept her true to her 

 course through all its rapid windings." 



On the 13th of July a glimpse of sunshine tempted 

 the captain to halt for the purpose of taking observa- 

 tions ; and, while he was thus engaged, the men were 

 permitted to scour the country in pursuit of deer and 

 musk-oxen, which literally swarmed in the barren 

 grounds. The hunters soon returned with four fine 

 bucks, which afforded them an agreeable change from 

 the customary meal of pemmican. 



The latitude was 65 38' 21" N., and longitude 106 

 35' 23" W. At this place the river began to take an 

 easterly bend, which perplexed them much ; causing 

 great anxiety as to whether it would ultimately lead 

 them to the Frozen Sea, or terminate in Hudson's Bay. 

 In any case, they had nothing for it but to push on ; and 

 their labors were rewarded by their finding that the 

 river trended again in a northerly direction, and their 

 hopes were further increased by the discovery, on the 

 16th of July, of some old Esquimaux encampments. 

 Once, indeed, they thought they saw tents of the Esqui- 



15 



