146 THE LABRADOR PENIXSULA. CHAP. ix. 



readied the highest one, we found its altitude to be 

 approximately 300 feet. 



' This must be one of the Nasquapee " ups," ' said my 

 companion ; ' if the others are like it, the portage will be 

 three times as high as the Grand Portage.' 



The Cold-water Eiver was far below us, roaring and 

 foaming through a narrow cleft which separated us from 

 the mountain on our left. We gazed up at the moun- 

 tains, first on one side, and then on the other ; and all 

 three agreed that they looked higher than when seen 

 from, the lake. Still we talked of ascending the one on 

 our right. After another half hour's toil we reached a 

 second plateau, which was about 250 feet above the last 

 terrace of gneiss. Here we sat and drank in the view, 

 catching a glimpse of the two lakes we had passed the 

 day before. Higher and more rugged seemed the moun- 

 tains ; and yet we had ascended 600 feet. Another 

 half hour brought us to the summit of the ' Top of the 

 Eidge Portage,' and we computed its altitude to be 800 

 feet above the lake from which we had camped. The 

 scene which we beheld was indeed grand. The whole 

 valley of Cold-water Eiver, for many miles, lay below us, 

 bounded only by the distant range of mountains touching 

 the Moisie where we had left it. On our left rose the 

 mountain which we had purposed to ascend, with a 

 deep gulf between us and it, in which the Cold-water 

 Eiver foamed and fretted and fell in numberless little 

 cascades. 



My brother took out his sketch-book, and said, with 

 the least trifle of satire in the tone of his voice, ' I will 

 sketch while you ascend one of those mountains.' The 



