DOWN THE PORCUPINE RIVER 223 



the raft near enough to one river bank so that I could 

 see the trees plainly. They were flitting by rapidly 

 which showed my speed was increasing. Then the raft 

 began to bump on an occasional boulder. The bumps 

 became more and more frequent and I was wondering 

 whether the rope would hold by which the logs were tied 

 together, when all of a sudden the downstream end of 

 the raft stuck fast. Then the raft swung broadside to 

 the current and bumped along over two or three more 

 boulders, stopped, and the upstream edge began to rise 

 as if the raft were about to flop over. I grabbed all my 

 belongings, including the stones which made the fire- 

 place, and shifted them and myself to the rising edge. 

 This was enough to bring it down and lift the down- 

 stream edge so that the raft commenced moving again. 

 There were half a dozen more serious bumps and then 

 we drifted into quiet water below. 



It was not particularly likely that there would be a 

 second rapid just below this one. But drifting through 

 an unknown rapid in the dark is no fun, and it had 

 taken so much of my nerve that after a little debate with 

 myself I started poling ashore. I landed about half a 

 mile below the rapids, and decided to sleep there and 

 wait for daylight. After this I traveled each day only 

 while there was light enough to see some distance ahead, 

 which was about eighteen hours of the twenty-four. 



The next day I wrote in my diary: "Home has never 

 seemed as far away as it does moping down this infernal 

 river on a headstrong and lazy raft." The feeling of 

 impatience indicated by this entry kept growing. The 

 next day I came to the end of my patience, poled the 

 raft ashore, packed on my back the twenty or thirty 

 pounds of food and other things I had with me (little 



