With Gun & Rod in Canada 



In the case in question, it was my intention to leave 

 the rock that formed the eddy on the left-hand side, 

 as I shot out into the main stream. Instead of shoving 

 the stern toward the left, I should have pulled it toward 

 the right, and got the stern clear of the return current 

 and into the downstream current before trying to pole 

 up against the falls. I should have seen to it that the 

 bow of my canoe, which was easily swung, being mostly 

 out of water, was pointed upstream just enough to clear 

 the rock. That these conclusions were correct I imme- 

 diately proved by shoving out into the stream, getting 

 into the eddy, poling out of it, and shoving upstream 

 against the heavy current successfully to the head of 

 Little Kempton Falls. I was pretty tired, but to prove 

 to my own satisfaction that I had learned the trick of 

 standing up in a canoe and poling it up over swift water, 

 I decided to run down, using the pole to snub my head- 

 way, then pole up the run from the bottom to the top 

 without resting. 



Before I was half-way up I was completely out of 

 breath, and was obliged to take it easily and slowly or 

 quit. Much to my surprise, I seemed to make fully 

 as good headway when I took my time as I did when I 

 tried to sprint. I found also that the current, if properly 

 used, was of considerable assistance, acting much like 

 the wind on the sails of a tacking yacht, the pole acting 

 as a keel or centreboard in holding the craft against 

 making too much leeway, or, in other words, against 

 going downstream. 



After conquering the falls a second time, I ran over 

 them again and back to camp, satisfied, wet, and all in. 

 It had taken me three hours and a half to negotiate a 

 little run that I could now go up over with a loaded 

 canoe and a passenger in five minutes. 



That afternoon we broke camp for the purpose of 



150 



