OF THE POLAR SEA. 281 
elevation at this place. The portage is in lati- 
tude 55° 26’ 0” N., and longitude 103° 34’ 50” 
W. Its name, according to Sir Alexander Mack- 
enzie, is derived from the Crees having left sus- 
pended a stretched frog’s skin, in deriat@in of the 
Northern Indian mode of dressing the beaver. 
The part of the Missinippi, in which we em- 
barked, we should have mistaken for a lake, had 
it not been for the rapidity of the current against 
which we made our way. At four P.M. we passed 
along portage, occasioned by a ledge of rocks, 
three hundred yards in length, over which the 
river falls seven or eight feet. After crossing 
another portage we encamped. 
~ On the 18th we had rain, wine std thunder, 
the whole day ; but this weather was much pre- 
ferable to the heat we had borne hitherto. We 
passed three portages, and, at six P.M., en- 
camped on the north bank. Below the third 
portage is the mouth of the Rapid River, flowing 
froma large lake to the southward, on which a 
post was formerly maintained by the North-West 
Company. Next morning we found ourselves 
involved in a confused mass of islands, through 
the openings of which we could not discern the 
shore.» The guide’s knowledge of the river did 
not extend beyond the last portage, and our per- 
plexity continued, till we observed some foam 
