374 A SPACIOUS LAKE. 



tossed about in the Charybdis of its almost 

 irresistible whirlpools. 



Having got out of this trouble, nothing loth, 

 we breathed more freely again in the wide stream, 

 which now carried us gently forward. Craggy 

 rocks, as before, bordered each side, the western 

 being the more open of the two, with undulating 

 prairies. At the end of six miles, a sandy bluff 

 from the left seemed to bar the river ; but, on 

 drawing closer, it proved, as expected, the begin- 

 ning of another rapid; which, however, was 

 more civil than the last, and allowed us to pass 

 with a few good-humoured buffe tings to make 

 us free of its waters. 



When we had fairly entered the mountainous 

 country, and the river had taken a decided turn 

 to the northward, I certainly did not contemplate 

 any other interruption than rapids or falls ; my 

 astonishment will therefore be understood, when, 

 from the foot of the rapids, we emerged into 

 the expanse of a spacious lake, bounded only 

 by the horizon, and stretching away in a direction 

 about N.N.W. For a while the current was 

 felt, and guided us on ; but soon the old difficulty 

 was experienced, and we had again to grope our 

 way towards the river as we might. A cold 

 head-wind with rain did not aid this operation ; 

 and as the evening was already far advanced, we 

 encamped, — after which divine service was read 



