CHAP. v. ICE IN" THE WOODS. 77 



and too steep - - must wait till the water falls before we 

 go up the river. We '11 see to-morrow.' 



We went on for some distance, perhaps eighty yards, 

 when a rock, rising many hundred feet directly from the 

 river, stopped our progress. Pierre crept to the edge of 

 the ledge, and carefully surveyed the torrent foaming 

 through the gorge. After a while he came to me, and 

 said, ' That point 's the worst part ; if we can pass that, 

 I think we shah 1 do the rest to-morrow. We '11 get out a 

 long line ; we '11 want one three or four hundred feet long 



- tie a stick to it, throw one end into the river, and let it 

 float down. The men in the canoe will catch it, and pull 

 the canoe past that point. We can tie the line to this tree.' 



I thought the plan proposed by Pierre excellent, and 

 indeed our only chance of passing the gorge. We there- 

 fore returned to our tents, and, as it was still early, fished 

 for trout, catching a dozen or so of about a pound each. 

 There was plenty of ice or frozen snow in the woods 

 opposite the gorge, where we camped ; and feeling it 

 rather cold as I sat upon a blanket while writing in my 

 note-book, I examined the dead leaves on which the 

 blanket was stretched, and found that they covered a 

 sheet of ice. 



On this cold bed we had pitched our tent, in conse- 

 quence of its presenting a level surface ; a thick layer of 

 spruce boughs soon protected us from the chilling influence 

 of the icy floor, on which we sought and found most 

 refreshing rest after a long day's toil. 



We were at supper just as the sun was setting, when a 

 voice called out, ' A canoe ! a canoe ! ' Looking in the 

 direction of the gorge, we saw issuing from it, with the 



