OF HOAR FROST RIVER. H5 



Having crossed a swamp, and again ascended, 

 we got to a point above a second fall, where a 

 little smooth pool, on which the canoe was 

 launched, afforded a short respite to the wearied 

 men. Here I dismissed La Prise, who, with his 

 two little boys, had assisted in conveying the 

 things so far. He was intrusted with a letter 

 for Mr. M c Leod, in which I directed him to 

 begin building an establishment, as soon as he 

 should reach the east end of the lake, which, as 

 I calculated, could not be more than a day's 

 march from the river ; informing him at the 

 same time that I might be expected some time 

 in September. 



A few hundred yards' paddling along the pool 

 brought us in sight of fresh clouds of spray, 

 rising from a third and a fourth fall, too danger- 

 ous to approach ; and though the woods were 

 extremely thick, and consisted, for the greater 

 part, of stunted swamp fir, which gave us in- 

 finite trouble to force through, still there was no 

 alternative, and clambering over the fallen trees, 

 through rivulets and across swamps, as well as 

 our burthens would permit, we at length emerged 

 into an open space. It was barren and desolate; 

 crag was piled upon crag, to a height of two 

 thousand feet from the base ; and the course of 

 the contracted river, now far beneath, was 

 marked by an uninterrupted line of foam. After 



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