202 SUPERIOR. 



cocker spaniel mounted on the top of the load — a dog that 

 earned his weight in currency during our absence by putting 

 up rabbits, partridges, etc., which added delicious variety to 

 the larder. 



At the head of the rapids the river expands into a sheet of 

 water six miles long by one mile wide, called Lake Helen, 

 which is surrounded by scenery so enchanting that we are 

 already in love with Neepigon, and feel amply repaid for 

 sacrifices or hardships undergone thus far. Twelve miles 

 above the first rapids is a portage three miles in length, the 

 longest on the river, and known as "Long Portage." 

 Thence, to the head of the river, which is forty-five miles dis- 

 tant from its mouth, there are alternate rapids and stretches 

 of still water which frequently widen into lakes. There are 

 fifteen rapids in all, and at each there is the best of trout- 

 fishing. Some of the lakes are two or three miles in length, 

 and are known as Duck Lake, Pike Lake, Lake of the Five 

 Islands, Lake Emma, etc. The shoaler ones abound in large 

 pike. Occasionally brooks flow into the river over ledges of 

 rock. One of the portages traverses a beautiful pine grove ; 

 another cuts ofi" a bend of the river which is studded with 

 islands. Three miles below the head of the river are the 

 Virgin Falls, twenty-five feet high. Altogether the scenery 

 is the most diversified imaginable, and constantly presents 

 changes of the most enchanting character. This is not one 

 of those wildernesses that " howl." Though civilization 

 dwells not here, and though the forest is primeval, this 

 water-course has been a thoroughfare for trappers and voya- 

 geurs for sixty years. At considerable intervals, all along, 

 are grassy spots where the hardy sons of toil have made their 

 frequent camps. There are no windfalls to surmount, and 

 no inextricable and intricate masses of undergrowth to cut 

 through with axe and knife. From the falls the river widens 

 gradually, enclosing within its area dozens of small islands 

 variegated with evergreens, birch, poplar, larch, tamarack, 

 etc., and then expands into a vast inland sea whose shores 



