268 A JOURNEY TO THE 



1772. empties itself into the great lake of the same name we had so 

 January, j^^^jy crossed, and which has been already described. 



The woods about this river, particularly the pines and 

 poplars, are the tallest and stoutest I have seen in any part 

 of North America. The birch also grows to a considerable 

 size, and some species of the willow are likewise tall : but 

 none of them have any trunk, like those in England, 



The bank of the river in most parts is very high, and in 

 some places not less than a hundred feet above the ordinary 

 surface of the water. As the soil is of a loamy quality, it is 

 very subject to moulder or wash away by heavy rains, even 

 during the short Summer allotted to this part of the globe. 

 The breaking up of the ice in the Spring is annually attended 

 with a great deluge, when, I am told, it is not uncommon to 

 see whole points of land washed away by the inundations; and 

 as the wood grows close to the edge of the banks, vast quan- 

 tities of it are hurried down the stream by the irresistible 

 force of the water and ice, and conveyed into the great lake 

 already mentioned ; on the shores and islands of which, there 

 lies the greatest quantity of drift wood I ever saw. Some of 

 this wood is large enough to make masts for the largest ships 

 that are built. The banks of the river in general are so steep 

 as to be inaccessible to either man or beast, except in some 

 slacks, or guUeys, that have been wore down by heavy rains, 

 [269] backwaters, or deluges ; and even those slacks are, for the 

 most part, very difficult to ascend, on account of the number 

 of large trees which lie in the way. 



There are several low islands in this river, which are much 

 frequented by the moose, for the sake of the fine willows they 

 produce, which furnish them with a plentiful supply of their 

 favourite food during the Winter. Some of those islands are 

 also frequented by a number of rabbits ; but as larger game 

 could be procured in great plenty, those small animals were 

 not deemed worthy our notice at present. 



Beside the grand river already mentioned, there are several 



