"NO THOROUGHFARE." "iVE BEEN HERE!" 231 



push and pull our way by main force, guided by the slight 

 signs of broken or rubbed limbs; where other boats had 

 sometime preceded us, but as often going hap-ha/.ard, on 

 a "bee line." in the general direction up-stream, the per- 

 veisely crooked channel utterly lost. 



Words fail to adequately describe our journeying through 

 Ibis wilderness of difficulties. For nearly four hours we 

 toiled and Struggled up the tortuous and uncertain way. 

 hunting for the main channel and often finding ourselves 

 in a ' pocket." -a case of " No Thoroughfare." with no 

 friendly sign board, and then backing out or pushing with 

 all our force th n.ugli acre- ,,f dead alders. At length we 

 entered a little stream comparatively free from obstacles. 

 The Sheriff, "who had been there," declared that we had 

 missed the river and were entering a branch from Mas^i 

 wepir Lake. The sagacious guides argued from the "lay 



of the land " and the character of the woods that this miisl 

 be the river, while \\hat appeared to the Sheriff to lie the 

 river hi-d the entire \alle\ being tlooded was only a bay. 



" 1 tell you again, boys," said the Shei'ilV. emphatically, 

 " I've been here before, and this isn't the river. We shall 

 bring up in Massawepie. sure, if we keep on." 



" Well, Sheriff." 1 ventured to say. " I have never been 

 here. I don't know (Jrass IJivcr from the Kuphrates, by 

 occ alar demonstration, and I'm not likely to. if we don't 

 get out .of thi> everlasting swamp before dark; but 1 can 

 .tell you one thing. --these guides generally know pretty 

 well what they are talking about, when it's a trail or an inlet 

 or an outlet or channel thai they are hunting for. Better 

 'em their head.' Sheriff." 



