CRUISE OF THE STEAMER CORWIN. 35 



top, a dense growth of liirch and willow had S|irung iij). The ])ed of the stream was completely 

 choked with rocks of slate formation, broken into a thousand irregularities by frost and ice. 

 So sharp and jagged were these j^rojections that the slightest contact with the skin boat would 

 result in a hole being jjunched through her sides. 



We had no:- long to wait for Tah-tali-rok, for hardly had we secured the boat in a pro- 

 tected pool and climbed up on a rock when we heard liim and his two companions shouting in 

 the gorge at no great distance from us, and almost immediately they came in sight around a 

 bend, scrambling along the face of the rocky shores and holding on to a raft of small logs. 

 When they reached the head of the cataract and further j^rogress along the banks was impos- 

 sible, the raft was hauled ashore and the logs floated down to us one by one. We succeeded in 

 catching a majority of them and made a kind of ways upon the rocks, over which we hauled 

 the boat. In order to do this we were obliged to unload the boat and transfer the contents to 

 a safe place up stream by means of a temporary bridge fi'om rock to rock in the rapids. In 

 this manner, step liy step, we worked our way slowly upwards, and had nearly reached a jjlace 

 where we could load the boat and proceed as usual, when an accident occurred which nearly 

 proved fatal. 



I had returned to the boat after a trip up to the spot where we had deposited onr outfit, and 

 was waiting tVjr the I'est of the party to come up, when I heard above the roar of the cataract 

 a sudden cry of distress, and a moment afterward saw Tah-tah-rok struggling frantically in 

 the water. As he swept past the rock upon which I was standing one of the party who had 

 run down and joined me assisted me in lifting one of the trees we were using, and together we 

 threw it toward Tah-tah-rok, who fortunately caught it, and a moment afterward it swung 

 around and jammed in between two rocks a little farther down stream. We hastened to his 

 assistance, and the whole party, coming up now, hauled him out of his dangerous position. 

 Although but a few moments in the water, the poor fellow's hands and arms were cut in a 

 dozen places by the sharp rocks, and he was so much exhausted by his struggles that I decided 

 to stop and make a cup of hot tea before proceeding any farther. This we did, and after band- 

 aging up his hands the boat was hauled up and loaded again, and we proceeded on our way. 



The gorge was about a mile long, with banks compos'i'd of almost perpendicular masses of 

 conglomerate rocks, varied now and then by steep sloping bluffs, moss-covered and overgrown 

 with willow and birch trees. The river was here not over thirty yards wide, and, as might be 

 expected, the current tore through with tremendotis force. Along the base of the cliffs 

 detached and broken bowlders afforded a precarious footing, over which we scrambled as best 

 we might. It was often necessary to hold the boat alongside one rock and allow the party 

 to go as far up as the length of the tow-line would allow and then sheer her out into the mid- 

 dle of the stream, in order to round some particularly bad point, the party in the mean time 

 having secured a firm foothold on another rock farther iip stream. Fortunately our tow-line 

 proved adequate to endure the straiji, and we at last emerged from the gorge and gazed once 

 more on low shores, clothed with the usual willow thickets, with occasional clumps of spruce 

 and l:)ircli trees. 



All day we advanced rapidly, having a good beach to walk upon and finding comparatively 

 little current to contend with. The temperature of the water was observably lower, and it 

 seemed much colder on account of the heat of the sun. With the thermometer standing 

 steadily at ninety-four degrees in the shade, and with no time to rest, one could ring the 

 changes on a popular song and .sing "an explorers lot is not a happy one " with great feeling. 



Just before camping for the night we passed through a reach of the i-iver almost com- 

 pletely filled with rocks, and the boat suffered much liy coming in contact with them. The 

 banks were composed of a loose red sandstone, which crumbled at the slightest touch, and the 

 water was tinged a deep brownish red by the constant dropping of portions of the bank into 

 the river. Distinct water marks could be seen high up the banks, showing that at times the 

 river must rise very high. 



From the first gorge the course of the river is very nearly north. The bends are less 



