The Land of the Winanishe 



are known as " bottes sauvages;" a flannel 

 shirt, with a gay kerchief in a broad fold 

 over the chest; a soft felt hat of Protean 

 shapes and uses, with a cherished fly or 

 two stuck in the crown, perhaps, if " la 

 blonde " is near her "cavalier," a feather 

 or a wild-flower in the band. 



The volume of the rapids, the swiftness, 

 complexity, and heavy swirls of the cur- 

 rents, make canoeing most exciting, and at 

 times a little dangerous, on these waters. 

 They are too deep for the use of setting- 

 poles, and everything depends on strength 

 and skill with the paddle. Mounting the 

 Grande Decharge, when it is fifteen feet 

 above summer level, and running like a 

 mill-race, is hard work. But, taking ad- 

 vantage of every eddy, gripping rocks with 

 hand and paddle, handing along by the 

 tops of the submerged alders, passing be- 

 tween branches of overhanging trees un- 

 dermined by the current, by sheer dint 

 of hard paddling we get up a mile and a 

 half. Now for the traverse. The canoe 

 sweeps down and across in a beautiful 

 curve, head up stream, with the paddles 

 flashing like lightning, except when a tour- 

 niquet catches her and spins her half round 

 a circle, while Joseph with a sidelong 

 sweep decapitates a wave which threatens 



59 



