CHAP. vi. THE ' UP-AND-DOWN ' PORTAGE. 97 



sand, sixty feet high and one foot broad at the top ; 

 a narrow peninsula of drift, wearing away with every 

 shower of rain, as the protecting covering of grass and 

 trees has long been removed by Indians in then: 

 passage over it. It is now quite bare near and at the 

 carrying place, needing only time and exposure to level 

 it, or at least greatly reduce its altitude. It is well 

 named the ' Up-and-Down ' Portage, for you have 

 merely to ascend sixty feet and descend fifty to the river 

 on the opposite side. The isthmus of sand joins a 

 magnificent rock with a mountain chain. The river 

 rushes over an irregular bed, with a fall of eight feet, 

 and sweeps past the base of a treeless mountain of gneiss 

 on the opposite side, many hundred feet in height. 



We fished and caught some fine trout in the beautiful 

 pool below ; and were it not for the difficulty of reach- 

 ing it, the See-way-sini-kop falls and pool would be by 

 far the most attractive salmon-fishing ground it has 

 been my good fortune to see in the wilds of Eastern 

 Canada. 



We were not ready to start until eleven o'clock on 

 the following day. The task of mending the canoes, and 

 carrying the baggage across the portage, had occupied 

 nearly the whole morning. 



I made a cache here of some preserved vegetables, 

 powder, shot, &c., in consequence of the improbability of 

 our meeting with many Indians on the table land, or near 

 the sources of Ashwanipi. A hole was dug in the sand, 

 spruce boughs laid at the bottom, and the articles cached 

 laid on them, and thickly covered with other boughs 

 of spruce. Sand was then heaped upon it, and a few logs 



VOL. I. II 



