THE AXFABASGA KIVEE REGION 125 



situations. Immense towering hills of sand, or clay, are 

 cut down vertically, some facing the river, others at right 

 angles to it, and others inland, and almost iaclosed by pro- 

 jecting shoulders of the wooded heights. These cut-banks 

 carry layers of stone here and there, and are specked with 

 boulders, and in some places massed into projecting crests, 

 which threaten destruction to the passer-by. Otherwise the 

 scenery is desolate, mountainous always, and wooded, but 

 with much burnt timber, which gives a dreary look to the 

 region. The cut-banks are unique, however, and would 

 make the fortune of an Eastern river, though here little 

 noticed on account of their number. 



It was now the 18th, and the weather was intensely hot, 

 foreboding change and the August freshet. We had camped 

 about eight miles below the Burnt Rapid, and the men were 

 very tired, having been in the water pretty much since morn- 

 ing. Directly opposite our camp was a colossal cliff of clay, 

 around which, looking upward, the river bent sharply to the 

 south-west, very striking as seen beneath an almost full 

 moon breaking from a pile of snowy clouds, whilst dark 

 and threatening masses gathered to the north. The early, 

 foggy morning revealed the freshet. The river, which had 

 risen during the night, and had forced the trackers from 

 their beds to higher ground, was littered from bank to bank 

 with floating trees, logs and stumps, lifted from many a 

 drift up stream, and borne down by the furious current. At 

 one of the short breathing spells the water rose two inches 

 ia twenty minutes, and the tracking became exceedingly bad, 

 the men floundering to their waists in water, or footing it 

 insecurely on steep and slippery ledges along the water's 

 marge. About mid-day the anticipated change took place 

 in the weather. Thick clouds closed in with a driving rain 

 and a high raw wind, presaging the end of summer. 



It was now, of course, very bad going, and camp was made, 

 in the heavy rain, on a high flat about two miles below the 

 Burnt Rapid. Though a tough spot to get up to, the flat 



