3 i8 ON SNOW-SHOES TO THE BARREN GROUNDS 



at seven o'clock, and hired a canoe of the Indians I found 

 there, reaching McMurray at 11.30. Spencer and his wife 

 had retired, but were glad to see me, and I was glad to 

 see them, for I remembered McMurray as the place where 

 I had slept in a comfortable bed and had had abundant 

 water for washing. They were just as kind to me now 

 as they had been when I went in, and seemed to rejoice 

 as much as I over my success. 



Frangois and I were both very tired, for, following the 

 devious banks, we must have covered forty-five miles, and 

 the walking had been of the hardest. 



A strong wind favored the rlatboats the next day, and 

 they arrived in the evening at six o'clock. Here the men 

 were divided into gangs, and we started the following day 

 on our ninety miles to the island at Grand Rapids with two 

 rlatboats. 



The entire ninety miles is one succession of rapids so 

 strong that at all times the boat is " tracked," and at some 

 of the swiftest the gangs are doubled up on to one boat, 

 and the tracking-rope, ordinarily about the size of a clothes- 

 line, is replaced by one an inch in diameter. 



It had rained almost constantly, and the walking (for I 

 rarely rode except when we sailed, and there was no sailing 

 on this stage of the journey) was hard, unpleasant work. 

 Many times we saw bear tracks, and twice viewed the 

 bear, which had been scared by the noise the Indians 

 made with their shouting and singing. Once we were 

 fortunate enough to kill two moose, which gave us some 

 fresh meat, although it was so unpalatable that neither 

 Spencer nor I cared for it. 



Six days of this hard tramping brought us, on Sunday, 

 June 2d, to Gas Spring, which is rather a remarkable freak 

 of nature. There is a spot at the water's edge about three 

 feet in diameter where natural gas is constantly escaping, 



