A BIRCH-BARK CANOE TRIP 243 



hills undulating below us like mountainous waves turned solid, 

 as if some awful voice had suddenly pronounced the fiat to a tossing 

 ocean, ' Peace be still ! ' Silver threads that wound among the 

 valleys showed the sinuous course of the river and its tributaries. 

 One's very being seemed to be absorbed into the scene, to mingle 

 with it and become a part of sky and mountain. Seeking out a 

 copse beside a brook that brawled down the hillside, we passed 

 the night pleasantly enough beneath the stars, and early next 

 morning returned to camp and commenced to portage our baggage 

 to Upsalwitch Lake, whence we intended to run down the Upsal- 

 witch River and reach Metapedia by the Restigouche. The weather 

 was intensely hot, and our portage path lay for part of the dis- 

 tance along a meadow, where we occasionally sank to our knees in the 

 spongy moss, and were assailed by myriads of flies with an energy 

 I had never before witnessed. 



We were glad to deposit our burdens on the shore of a picturesque 

 lake, from which cranes and ducks rose on the wing beneath the 

 protecting arms of some noble trees. It took us two more days 

 to complete the portage ; even the canoe no contemptible bur- 

 den had to be carried across. Along this path was a line of bear 

 traps that a hunter had set up last spring. In one we found a 

 few remains of a bear that had been taken after he went out of the 

 woods, and it had been devoured by the other bears. 



As there was a good growth of cedars here, and the first portion 

 of the Upsalwitch stream was likely to be very low, we decided 

 to stop in this comfortable camp for one day and shoe the canoe. 

 This process consisted in cutting long thin strips of cedar, so shaped 

 as to envelop the canoe in a complete framework, the strips being 

 firmly lashed together by withes and cords. She could thus be 

 dragged over a rocky bottom with impunity. 



On the iollowing morning we embarked with our possessions 

 on the lake ; we saw several grebe ducks swimming about, one of 

 which we shot and it proved most delicate in flavour. We also 

 shot two blue- wing ducks on our passage to the outlet, a distance 

 of three miles. We were surprised to find the stream so shallow. 

 We were obliged to wade for the first two or three miles and haul 

 the canoe after us. By breaking down two or three beaver dams 

 we were enabled to raise the water considerably, as they had backed 

 it up nearly two feet. These interesting and amusing animals are 

 fast disappearing from the remorseless pursuit of the hunters ; 

 the recent rise in the value of their fur will further assist in their 

 destruction. We had the opportunity of examining some extensive 

 works in a small tributary brook. Joe supposed there were six 

 beavers in this colony, two old ones and four cubs. Why they had 



