270 THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE BY LAND. 



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utterly incapable of any further exertion, but Cbeadle 

 induced him to make another attempt, and managed 

 to find a tree as heavy as the first. Mr. O'B. entreated, 

 groaned, begged for mercy, and implored Cheadle to 

 stop for a moment, only one moment ; but he was 

 obliged to push on to the end, where he sat down, 

 declaring he was regularly broken down. Yet he was 

 not too exhausted to talk and complain very loudly. 

 Finding, however, that too much time w^as lost by 

 keeping him at hard labour, we detailed him to., 

 carry the light poles for the cross pieces of the raft. 

 "When all the wood was brought down, the logs were 

 securely lashed together, and we prepared to cross. 

 The stream was so strong that it was with great 

 difficulty all got on board, and the raft had drifted 

 some distance before we fairly got to work with 

 the poles we all carried. Away we went down 

 stream at a fearful pace. At first it appeared certain 

 that we must run foul of some rocks, and a tree over- 

 hanging the bank on the side we started from. Yery 

 vigorous poling, urged on by the frantic shouts and 

 anathemas of The Assiniboine, barely saved us from 

 this danger. In avoiding Scylla, however, we fell 

 into Charybdis, for the current, setting in strongly at 

 this place toward the opposite side, almost before we 

 were aware, or could make any effort to prevent it, 

 carried us across into a billoA^y rapid. Over this we 

 passed like an arrow, and were helplessly borne 

 straight to w^hat seemed certain destruction, a large 

 pine-tree, through the lower branches of which the 

 water rushed like the stream from a mill-wheel. 



