234 CANADIAN NIGHTS 



dry leaf upon the water, and spins round and round, 

 and insists on going in the wrong direction, and 

 displays a propensity to slip suddenly from under 

 your feet, and in fact behaves altogether in a very 

 fickle and cantankerous manner. Mishaps, though 

 frequent, were only ludicrous ; for the water was 

 shallow, salmon were numerous, and in spite of our 

 awkwardness we had fresh fish for supper that night. 

 We made good progress next day, and arrived at our 

 old camp on the first lake about sunset. It rained 

 in perfect torrents that night, and we had a most 

 uncomfortable time of it, carrying across to Indian 

 Brook. The water had fallen so much since we 

 were there, that we found it necessary to make a 

 portage of six miles instead of two, so as to strike 

 the river lower down. It is no joke carrying 

 canoes six miles over a rough ground, and though 

 our Indians worked splendidly, it did not want 

 many hours to davm by the time we had got every- 

 thing across, and were changing wet clothes for 

 damp ones, and trying to dry ourselves before a huge 

 fire, under the partial shelter of a hastily arranged 

 lean-to. If we had only known that it was going to 

 rain so hard, we might have been spared the trouble 

 of making the long portage, for when day broke we 

 found the stream had risen at least a foot, and was 



