EXPEDITION TO THE LAURENTIAN HILLS. 189 



u Jordan roads ; " namely, first, the dainty, conservative way, 

 and afterwards, when stern necessity had lectured us into an 

 accommodating spirit, the " rough-and-ready " way. 



"THE CONSERVATIVE WAY. 



" October in the Canada wilderness means November in 

 New York, as we found by the snow-squalls we encountered 

 in those three days. Of course the water was far from being 

 warm ; and of course the ex-clergyman, editor, and financier 

 shrank a little from wetting their feet ! We were willing from 

 the start to wade in water of moderate depth, say up to the 

 ankle, or anywhere below the tops of our boots ; and with only 

 this reservation we worked hard and heroically, and, to say 

 the truth, conquered many obstructions and got along tolerably 

 well ; that is to say, at the rate perhaps of a quarter of a mile 

 in half a day. Three of us novices had in charge the big 

 boat, with its load of three or four hundred pounds ; and our 

 way was, when we came to a log that could be surmounted 

 without chopping, first to run the bow on as far as we could 

 by a vigorous shove of all hands. Then the man at the bow 

 would step out carefully on the log, so as not to take water into 

 his boots, and, the bow being thus lightened, the remainder of 

 the crew could shove it further on. The man on the log 

 could not help much, as his footing was not secure, and he 

 had as much as he could do to look out against wetting his 

 feet, and to find a safe way back to his seat in the boat at the 

 proper time. When we had worked along till the log was 

 under the middle of the boat, the bow man would get in, and 

 the 'midship man would get out, on the log of course; and 

 finally, when the balancing crisis was past, and the stern came 

 to be the point of friction, the 'midship man would get in, and 

 the man behind get out, still on the log. In this way we kept 

 our feet partially dry, that is, dry as they could be with water 

 soaking through the leather, and running in at cracks ; but 

 our progress was very slow. Night overtook us before we had 

 accomplished a quarter of what we had undertaken as a mere 

 afternoon's job ; and Heaven only knows whether we should 

 have ever reached Salmon Lake if we had not at last con- 

 cluded to try 



