TJie Home of the Wolveroic and Beaver. 5 3 



closed his eyes, as destruction against its jagged 

 teeth seemed inevitable ; but by another powerful 

 sweep the danger was averted — within a hair's 

 breadth though, for by stretching out an arm he 

 could almost have touched the granite — and guided 

 solely by the Canadian's paddle the canoe was 

 borne smoothly forward towards the fall, the noise 

 of whose roaring waters was almost deafening. By 

 skilful management the back-water, which is a 

 portion of every rapid, had been reached, and in a 

 few seconds the canoe was made fast alongside a 

 smooth projecting rock that quite sheltered it from 

 the stream, and the work of unloading commenced 

 in silence, as far as talking was concerned, for a 

 six-pounder could hardly have been heard amidst 

 that mighty unbroken roar, and the human voice 

 was powerless. 



After all the goods had been unladen, the canoe 

 itself was lifted out of the water by her crew, and 

 carried carefully over the quarter of a mile of rocky 

 ground that constituted the portage. Room was 

 thus made at the little landing-place, when the 

 next canoe performed the same operation, and 

 then another, until all four were safely floating 

 in the smooth reach above the fall. From the 

 summit of a projecting rock that overhung the 

 boiling race beneath, Paul watched the movements 



