CHAPTEE X. 

 THE TRIP TO WAHP008K0W. 



OuE route lay first up the Pelican Eiver, the Chachakew 

 of the Crees, and then from the " divide " down the Wahpoos- 

 kow watershed to the lake. We had six canoemen, and our 

 journey began by " packing " our outfit over a four-mile 

 portage, commencing with a tremendously long and steep 

 hill, and ending on a beautiful bank of the Pelican, a fine 

 brown stream about one hundred feet wide, where we found 

 our canoes awaiting us, capital " Peterboroughs," in good 

 order. Here also were a number of bark canoes, carrying 

 the outfit of Mr. Ladoucere, a half-breed trader going up to 

 WahpooSkow. Mr. Prudhomme and myself occupied one 

 canoe, and with two experienced canoemen. Auger at the 

 stem and Cardinal at the bow, we kept well up with the 

 procession. 



Where the channels are shallow, poles are used, which the 

 men handled very dexterously, nicking in and out amongst 

 the rocks and rapids in the neatest way; but in the main 

 the propulsion was by our paddles, a delight to me, having 

 been bred to canoeing from boyhood. We stopped for lunch- 

 eon at a lovely " place of trees " overhanging a deep, dark, 

 alluring pool, where we knew there were fish, but had no 

 time to make a cast. So far the banks of the Pelican were 

 of a moderate height, and the adjacent country evidently 

 dry — a good soil, and berries very plentiful. Presently, 

 between banks overhung with long grass, birch and alder, 

 we entered a succession of the sweetest little rapids and 

 riffles imaginable, the brown water dancing amongst the 



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