116 DOWN THE PEACE RIVER 



hours after dark. Tying the canoe to the bushes, we crawled up 

 the bank and were soon asleep. I awoke in the morning as day 

 was breaking and, as I opened my eyes, I saw hanging over me an 

 enormous pair of horns and a huge face, which I concluded was 

 the devil himself. King woke up and saw the beast, but, the gun 

 being useless, he did not trouble it. 



King said that sometimes the water from Peace River ran 

 into this river and other times it ran out and we hoped that the 

 Peace River was flowing in, but, to our consternation, it was 

 flowing out so the current was running very swiftly. We found 

 the water flowing steadily into Peace River and we knew that we 

 had twenty-five miles upstream to go before we could get food. 



My stomach had now become so weak that tea would not 

 remain on it, so I drank water and ate a few high-bush cranberries. 

 We discovered that our united energies would not propel the 

 canoe against the current, so, fastening a line to the bow, I went 

 on shore and hauled the canoe for more than sixteen miles, floun- 

 dering through mud and water, knowing that the goal was draw- 

 ing nearer every step. While tramping along the river, when I 

 felt sick and weak, I plucked a few cranberries and, on my recover- 

 ing, trudged on. Every half hour, a fainting spell would overcome 

 me, but, by persistent effort, I would overcome it and, at length, 

 wearied and exhausted, we reached the fishery just as it was get- 

 ting dark. The last eight miles, I had to take to the canoe, the 

 mud being so soft and I so weak, I could not stand upon it. (He 

 evidently lost consciousness). Being unable to stand, I sat in a 

 clump of rushes and was soon the centre of a crowd of Indians. 

 I made signs that I wanted food and rest and would soon be all 

 right and they, misunderstanding, brought me Perry Davis' Pain 

 Killer and other medicines, but I made signs that I wished to 

 eat and a voice in the crowd, speaking good English, wanted to 

 know if I could eat fish and potatoes. I promptly said "Yes" and he 

 took me to his tent and I ate and slept, I believe, most of the night. 



In the morning, I felt a new man. None of the people would 

 believe that we had brought our little canoe from St. John's, 

 seven hundred miles away, as such a thing had never been done 

 before by two men. 



