Down THE MATTAWAMKEAG. 
~TI 
1 

Breakfast over, then the question, 
‘¢ Shall we carry by the falls?” 
‘¢Tt is better, all’s confusion, 
Jagged rocks, projecting walls.” 
‘¢ But they told us of a roadway 
Through the waters, by the jutting ;” 
**All serene, though that was hearsay, 
We can only get a ducking.” 
Each one ready, keen and steady, 
Swift and lightly on they go, 
Flying downward o’er the maelstrom, 
Like an arrow from the bow. 
Steersman standing, set pole trailing, 
5) 
Calm and fearless, has a care; 
With his paddle, bow man kneeling, 
Figures for an inch to spare. 
Ho! the whirlpool, at the jutting, 
To swap horses, no time now ; 
Waters rushing, set pole snapping, 
Deluged is the stern and bow. 
Ho! on the right hand see the big rock, 
All are jagged on the left, 
With scarce a passage for a wood-duck, 
Both now feel the birch bark rift. 
Now looking back, they see the right way, 
See the way they should have come through ; 
How they wish they had old ‘* hearsay ”» 
Hitched behind their birch canoe. 
