GRAND RAPIDS IX 



The crew consisted of three m<§tis and the Cree hunter, Aleck 

 Easter, who did not understand a word of English. Our craft 

 was a metal yawl which had formerly been carried by one of 

 the river steamboats. It was loaded with a few pieces 1 for the 

 river posts. 



We left the post late in the day, according to the custom of 

 northern voyageurs. This is an excellent plan, for no amount of 

 forethought on your part will insure sufficient preparation on 

 the part of the men to enable you to get away early in the 

 morning. One is sure to sleep badly the first night, and if he 

 has been traveling all day he will find the hardship less endur- 

 able than if he had only attempted to get clear of the post be- 

 fore pitching camp. 



Our boat was poled through five miles of rapids before we 

 halted for the night. The snow was two inches deep, the men 

 were tired, hungry, and wet from wading. A roaring fire soon dis- 

 pelled the darkness, and a few minutes' work provided spruce 

 boughs upon which to spread our blankets. The next morn- 

 ing, after "drinking tea," as breakfast or any other meal is 

 designated, we crossed in the midst of the rapids and continued 

 by means of the tracking-line. The men on the line at times 

 waded waist deep in the stream; again, they crept along the 

 face of the limestone escarpments, at the base of which the cur- 

 rent ran deep and swift. 



We used the oars on Cross Lake, which is about seven miles 

 in width, its northern shore not visible from the traverse. The 

 river enters the lake by a descent of about five feet, which forms 

 the rapids known as the Demi-charge. Our crew was small, 

 and not even a "half-load" could be tracked up the rapids. 

 After carrying the freight across the portage of two hundred 

 yards, the attempt was made to drag the boat through with 

 three men on the line. The banks were obstructed by fallen 

 trees, over which the tracking-lines of the traders have been 

 passed for over a century without anyone ever taking the 

 trouble to clear away a single branch. The men tugged at the 

 line until they were stretched nearly flat on the rocks, to which 

 they clung with hands and moccasined feet. Just as the boat 

 was on the last ledge, and the hitherto derisive shout of the 



'The bundles or boxes, averaging ninety pounds each in weight, in which 

 the Company's goods are packed, are known as "pieces." 



