In the Arctic Regions. 99 
crew, and they narrowly escaped destruction. Just 
as they were landing, an unfortunate fellow, seizing 
the loaded fowling-piece, fired at a duck which rose 
at the instant. The guide anticipating the conse- 
quences, ran with the utmost haste to the other end 
of the portage, but he was too late: the other canoe 
had pushed off, and he arrived only to witness the 
fate of his comrades. They got alarmed in the mid- 
dle of the rapid, the canoe was upset, and every man 
perished. 
The various rapids we have passed to-day, are pro- 
duced by an assemblage of islands and rocky ledges, 
which obstruct the river, and divide it into many nar- 
row channels. Two of these channels are rendered 
still more difficult by accumulations of drift timber ; 
a circumstance which has given a name to one of the 
portages. The rocks which form the bed of the river, 
and the numerous islands, belong to the granite 
formation. The distance made to-day was thirteen 
miles, 
July 21.---We embarked at four A.M., and pursued 
our course down the river. The rocks cease at the 
last portage ; and below it the banks are composed of 
alluvial soil, which is held together by the roots of 
the trees and shrubs that crown their summits. The 
river is about a mile wide, and the current is greatly 
diminished. At eight we landed at the mouth of the 
