DOWN THE ATHABASCA. 27 



terminus for the southern section of the river. The 

 whole distance of eighty miles is not a continuous rapid, 

 but eleven or twelve more or less impracticable sections 

 occur in it, so that no great length of navigable water is 

 found at any place. As its name suggests, the Grand 

 Rapid is the main rapid of the river, and has a fall of 

 seventy or eighty feet. This fall occurs mostly within 

 a distance of half a mile, though the total length of 

 the rapid is about four times that. The upper part is 

 divided by a long narrow island into two channels, and 

 it is through these comparatively narrow spaces that 

 the cataract rushes so wildly. Above and below the 

 island, the river may with great care be navigated by 

 the loaded scows, but the water upon either side is so 

 rough that goods cannot be passed down or up in safety. 

 The method of transportation adopted is as follows : 

 About a mile above the island, at the head of the rapid, 

 the steamer Athabasca ties up to the shore. There she 

 is met by a number of flat-bottomed boats or scows 

 capable of carrying about ten tons each, and to these 

 the boat's cargo is transferred. When loaded the scows 

 are piloted one by one to the head of the island in 

 the middle of the river, where a rough wharf is built, 

 and to it all goods are again transferred, whence they 

 are carried to the lower end of the island by means of 

 a tramway. The unloaded scows, securely held with 

 ropes by a force of men on the shore, and guided with 

 poles by a crew on board, are then carefully lowered 

 down stream to the foot of the island, where they again 

 receive their loads. Accidents frequently happen in 

 passing down the unloaded scows, for the channel 

 (the eastern one always being chosen) is very rough and 



