DOWN THE MACKENZIE RIVER 31 



had a special way of dealing with that situation. Ordi- 

 narily a ship such as the Wrigley will run on a level 

 keel, drawing slightly less water forward than aft. But 

 we kept the Wrigley down by the bow with a cargo of 

 shot in 200 pound bags. When we ran aground her nose 

 would stick solidly in the sand or mud. Thereupon all 

 the crew and some of the passengers would turn to and 

 carry the shot from the bow to the stern. This lifted 

 the nose of our boat a foot or two and released her from 

 the grip of the mud. 



Having been once deceived by a log that looked like 

 a ship, we were more on our guard. Thereafter ships 

 that were plain ships in the eyes of some of us were logs in 

 the eyes of others. Eventually we really found the Eva. 

 She had not had the forethought to carry a cargo of shot 

 in her bow to keep it down, and consequently she was 

 hard aground along the full length of her keel. We 

 passed over to her a long hawser and pulled her off. 



It must have been difficult for Mackenzie, the original 

 explorer of a hundred years before, to find the place 

 where the river leaves Slave Lake. Even with an Indian 

 pilot of some experience, we had a good deal of difficulty. 

 Where it heads in the lake, the river is so wide that it 

 really is a lake and you cannot say exactly where lake 

 ends and river begins. 



Especially where the Mackenzie River leaves Slave 

 Lake, but also elsewhere in the lake and at many places 

 in the river, there is danger of running on sandbars. 

 Eventually when commerce develops, the channel will 

 be buoyed and even an indifferent pilot will have no 

 trouble in finding the way. It is a matter of great dif- 

 ficulty now. Memory will scarcely serve the pilot, for 

 land and landmarks are too far away. 



