CHAP. in. ESSENCE OF GINGER. 35 



some misgivings. Louis began to complain that he had 

 pains all over him, and felt weak and cold. Change of 

 diet, together with the labour of portaging, to which he 

 was unaccustomed, made him feel unwell ; he wanted 

 to go back, and could only be prevailed to stay upon 

 receiving the assurance that I would give him some 

 medicine and cure him without loss of time. A tea- 

 spoonful of essence of ginger in a cup of tea warmed him 

 thoroughly, and after a good night's rest he rose himself 

 again, and said he was much better. An additional dose 

 of ginger and tea restored him to his usual good spirits 

 and careless indifference to ah 1 sublunary things. The 

 Grand Portage was represented to us by people at the 

 mouth of the Moisie as nine miles long, but we could not 

 find anyone there who had crossed it. Our Abenakis 

 Indian, as well as Louis, had passed it several times ; and 

 while the former called it six miles, the latter merely 

 remarked that it was ' very long might be nine miles, 

 might not ; but it was very long.' 



At four in the morning we despatched the men with 

 a load each, instructing them to carry them a mile and a 

 half and then return Messrs. Gaudet and Caley mark- 

 ing the distances, and recording the variations in the 

 aneroid barometer at each considerable change of level. 

 I followed an hour afterwards with a second aneroid, 

 recording the variations at each measured station. The 

 path runs through a deep valley to the summit of a 

 range of embossed gneissoid hills, which form on this 

 part of the coast the southern boundary of the moun- 

 tainous country. 



The distance of this rano;e from the sea is about four- 



o 

 D 2 



