183 EXPEDITION TO THE 



We passed on the ISth a river called Rapid river, from 

 a fine fall which interrupts its course Very near to its 

 mouth. We did not see the fall, but the spray rising in a 

 white cloud was very visible, and indicated a considerable 

 cascade. The wind increased so much towards night, that 

 we were highly pleased on reaching a fine bay, in which 

 a sandy beach offered us a safe harbour for our boat ; this 

 place is called Bottle Bay. The breeze heightened into a 

 storm, which was accompanied by a heavy rain, that con- 

 tinued all night ; the weather was very cold, and our tent- 

 flies had become so thin as to offer no protection against 

 either rainy or cold weather. We had fortunately a plen- 

 tiful supply of wood near us, and we endeavoured to make 

 ourselves as comfortable as our situation admitted of. The 

 waves in the lake were so high that we were prevented 

 from proceeding the next day. The bay in which we had 

 landed was surrounded by projecting points of land on all 

 sides but one, and this was sheltered by an island which 

 stretched across its entrance. In order to enjoy the splen- 

 did spectacle of the lake during a storm, several of 

 the party crossed the point of land which separated 

 our harbour from the main body of water. The large 

 waves which were impelled against the shore were of a 

 more delicate green than those of the sea. It was a noble 

 sight to observe each wave as it approached the high and 

 rugged rock upon which we stood, and as it broke at the 

 base of the cliff, throwing up a foaming spray to a height 

 of at least twenty-five feet. The trees that grow in the 

 vicinity of this bay consist of two kinds of spruce, of the 

 tamarack, larch, white cedar, blister balsam,* white and 

 yellow birch, and mountain-ash. Some of the party amused 



* Abies balsamifera. 



