LAKE SUPERIOR. 69 



tiuguishable, it leaped over pitch after pitch, collect- 

 ing in deep pools at every break, and whirling round 

 or dashing over huge boulders in its course, till de- 

 scending the last shute, the main body tumbled in 

 one heavy wave into a dark, turbid pool at the base. 

 From either shore the evergreen trees projected, lean- 

 ing over as if to protect the uneasy river, and a 

 heavy trunk, originally torn up and borne along by a 

 spring freshet, had lodged upon a broad, bare, rocky 

 island in the centre. Numerous little rills branched 

 off from the main stream, and forming innumerable 

 fantastic miniature water-falls, sought different paths 

 to the lower level. The rocks were bare and mostly 

 of a dull brown, constituting a strong contrast to 

 the green fringing of the mountain sides, and were 

 worn away by the immense volumes of water and 

 ice that forced their way through in early spring 

 and swept them clear of vegetation. 



At the foot of the lower shute there was a seeth- 

 ing cauldron, white with foam near the fall, and 

 black from its great depth in the centre ; below, the 

 wearied stream rushed down a stretch of rapids, and 

 sought temporary relief in a broad, quiet basin that 

 reached to the first of the cascades, close to our 

 camp, and in which the water seemed absolutely 

 motionless. 



Hardly giving ourselves time to note and enjoy 

 the beauties of this most romantic sj)ot, and urged 

 on by the sportsman's instinct that looks to the at- 

 tractions of nature, after having tried for game, we 

 commenced fasting in the rapids. Our efforts were 



