52 THE DRAMA OF THE FORESTS 



hold of the gunwales drag the craft up the rapids before it can 

 be overcome by the turbulent water, and either driven down 

 stream or capsized. Again, when the trippers encounter, in 

 shallow water, such obstacles as jammed timbers, wading 

 allows them carefully to ease their craft around or over the 

 obstruction. 



When tracking their six-fathom canoes, or "York boats," 

 or "sturgeon scows," the voyageurs of the north brigades use 

 very long lines, one end of which is attached to the bow of the 

 craft while to the other end is secured a leather harness of 

 breast straps called otapanapi into which each hauler adjusts 

 himself. Thus, while the majority of the crew land upon 

 the shore and, so harnessed, walk off briskly in single file along 

 the river bank, their mates aboard endeavour y with the^aid of 

 either paddles, sweeps, or poles, to keep the craft in a safe 

 channel. 



In the present instance we had to resort to tracking, but it 

 was of a light character, for the canoes were not too heavily 

 loaded, nor was the current too strong for us to make fair 

 headway along the rough, pathless bank of the wild little stream. 

 In each canoe one person remained aboard to hold the bow 

 off shore with a paddle or pole, while the others scrambled 

 along the river bank, either to help haul upon a line, or, in the 

 case of the younger children and the dogs, simply to walk in 

 order to relieve the craft of their weight and also for safety's 

 sake, should the canoe overturn. The greatest danger is for the 

 steersman to lose control and allow the canoe to get out of line 

 with the current, as the least headway in a wrong direction is 

 apt to capsize it. 



With us all went well until a scream from the children an- 

 nounced that Ah-ging-goos, the second son, had fallen in, and 

 anxiety reigned until the well-drenched Chipmunk partly 

 crawled and was partly hauled ashore; and then laughter 

 echoed in the river valley, for The Chipmunk was at times 



