44 BOWDOIN BOYS IN LABRADOR. 



knowledge of rapids behind and the object of the trip but a 

 short way ahead and easy travelling most of that way, and we 

 may readily understand why these tired and travel worn voy 

 agers felt hilarious. Cary says of the scene : "As we gradu- 

 ally worked out of the swift water the terraces of sand and 

 stones were seen to give way and the ridges beyond to approach 

 one another and to erect themselves, until at the lake's mouth 

 we entered a grand portal between cliffs on either hand tower- 

 ing for hundreds of feet straight into the air. And looking be- 

 yond and between the reaches of the lake was seen a ribbon 

 of water lying between steep sided ridges, over the face of 

 which, as we pulled along, mountain streams came pouring." 



One day was used in making the length of the lake, and at 

 the camp at its head Young and Smith turned back. A very 

 badly swelled hand and arm caused by jamming his thumb had 

 prevented Young from getting any sleep and threatened speedily 

 to become worse. This in connection with the loss of provis- 

 ions in the upset made it expedient to send the two men back. 

 The returning party was given the best boat, the best of the 

 outfit and provisions for six days, in which time they could 

 easily reach the mouth of the river. Meantime Cary and Cole 

 pushed on into what was to prove the most eventful part of 

 their journey. 



The lake is simply the river valley with the terraces cleaned 

 out, and was probably made when the river was much higher, 

 at a time not far removed from the glacial period. The head 

 of the lake is full of sand bars and shoals, much resembling 

 the mouth of the river as it opens out into Goose bay. On 

 both sides of the lake mountains rise steeply for one thousand 

 or twelve hundred feet. Its average width is from two to three 

 miles and it has three long bends or curves. Only one deep 

 valley breaks the precipitous sides, but many streams flow in 

 over the ridge, making beautiful waterfalls. 



The river as it enters the lake is about half a mile wide, but 

 soon increases to a mile. Twenty miles were made by the ad- 

 vance the day the parties separated, and at night, almost 

 at the place where the falls were reported, nothing but smooth 



