CANOEING. 259 



down the rivers; countless floating logs testify that the 

 axe has not been idle during the past winter. 



The rivers at this season are swollen by the melting ol 

 the snow, and to navigate them requires the greatest skill 

 on the part of the canoe-men. An upset at this season is a 

 serious matter. In these desperate torrents and in the 

 treacherous undertow of the eddies the strongest swimmer 

 is baffled. One of the best swimmers I ever met, when 

 stream driving, lost his balance and fell off a floating log 

 into an eddy at the edge of the river. He told me that 

 for several seconds after he fell in he tried his best to 

 reach the surface, but without success. He thought it was 

 all up with him ; but with great presence of mind gave up 

 wasting his strength in fighting against the undertow, and 

 tried to crawl along the bottom. This tactic succeeded ; 

 he got out of the influence of the eddy into the strong 

 torrent of the stream, when he immediately rose to the 

 surface, and although almost exhausted, managed to 

 paddle to the opposite bank of the river. 



It sometimes happens that a canoeless trapper finds him- 

 self in a situation where some craft is absolutely necessary 

 to transport his goods to market. He may be unable to 

 build a birch canoe, or unwilling to waste the time. 

 What is to be done ? Well, that depends upon circum- 

 stances. If he is provided with moose or cariboo hides, 

 he can in a very short time extemporise a skiff after the 

 fashion of the old coracle ; or, in spring time, his easiest 

 method is to peel a large sheet of spruce bark, sew up 

 and gum the ends, chop a rude paddle, and then and there 

 embark with his peltry. 



