350 PRAIRIE AND FOREST. 



many a miniature whirlpool or gurgling eddy, the haunt 

 and breeding-place of innumerable trout. If the river i 

 sufficiently high you will be able to proceed, without leaving 

 the steamboat, as far as the commencement of the portage ; 

 but, should it be otherwise, your baggage and self-will 

 require to be transferred to boats, to be propelled up stream 

 by pole and paddle in the skilful hands of some of the 

 proficient backwoodsmen. 



The trip up the river is worthy all the distance you have 

 wandered. The view is ever changing and ever beautiful : 

 now you float over some still, dark pool ; next with 

 laborious and slow progress, ascend some seething rapid ; 

 one time the centre of the stream only is navigable, the 

 next moment the brush and branches on the margin grate 

 against your craft's gunwale. A solemn stillness reigns 

 around, only broken by the murmuring of the water, the 

 occasional shrill cry of the fish-hawk, or the laborious, 

 incessant hammering of the industrious woodpecker. 

 Again, as you advance, many a wild duck or merganser, 

 on rapid wing, will whistle past, or flutter over the rippling 

 stream, followed by a numerous, inoffensive brood, perhaps 

 but the other day divested of the egg-shell, yet, thus 

 early, proficient in aquatic travel all adding peace to 

 the scene and suitable figures for foreground to the 

 picture. 



From this point, where you leave the boats, a portage of 

 four miles occurs, which has to be traversed on foot ; how- 

 ever, the walking is not bad, although too rough for 

 driving. The path is well defined and erratic, one moment 

 pointing direct for the impenetrable woods, the next follow- 



