1634. J THE J0UR]NT:Y TO THE HUR( NS. 53 



They reckoned the distance at nine hundred 

 miles ; but distance was the least repellent feature 

 of this most arduous journey. Barefoot, lest their 

 shoes should injure the frail vessel, each crouched 

 in his canoe, toihng with unpractised hands to 

 propel it. Before him, week after week, he saw 

 the same lank, unkempt hau', the same tawny 

 shoulders, and long, naked arms ceaselessly plying 

 the paddle. The canoes were soon separated ; and, 

 for more than a month, the Frenchmen rarely or 

 never met. Brebeuf spoke a little Huron, and could 

 converse with his escort ; but Daniel and Davost 

 were doomed to a silence unbroken save by the 

 occasional unintelligible complaints and menaces 

 of the Indians, of whom many were sick with the 

 epidemic, and all were terrified, desponding, and 

 sullen. Their only food was a pittance of Indian 

 corn, crushed between two stones and mixed with 

 water. The toil was extreme. Brebeuf counted 

 thirty-five portages, where the canoes were lifted 

 from the water, and carried on the shoulders of the 

 voyagers around rapids or cataracts. More than 

 fifty times, besides, they were forced to wade in 

 the raging current, pushing up their empty barks, 

 or dragging them with ropes. Brebeuf tried to 

 do his part ; but the boulders and sharp rocks 

 wounded his naked feet, and compelled him to 

 desist. He and his companions bore their share 

 of the baggage across the portages, sometimes a 

 distance of several miles. Four trips, at the least, 

 were required to convey the whole. The way was 

 through the dense forest, incumbered with rock« 



5* 



