CHAPTER III. 



RUNNING THE RAPIDS. 



Befoee leaving the Grand Rapid several good photograplis 

 of it were obtained, and then on the morning of the 7th of 

 June, bidding adien to Inspector Howard, and leaving our 

 supplies in the freighters' hands, we started down the river 

 for Fort McMurray. The first object of special interest 

 passed was a natural gas flow, occurring on the left bank about 

 fifteen miles below the rapid. At this place a considerable 

 volume of gas is continually discharging, and may be seen 

 bubbling up through the water over a considerable area, as 

 well as escaping from rifts in the bank. The gas burns with 

 a hot pale-blue flame, and is said to be used at times by boat- 

 men for cooking purposes. Eight or ten miles farther down 

 stream came the Brule Rapids, the first of the long series, and 

 though they might easily have been run, we did not try it, as 

 my brother wished to remain on shore for some time to col- 

 lect fossils. Meanwhile our stuff was portaged, and without 

 difficulty the empty canoes run down to the foot of the rapids, 

 where camp was made. Just at this place commence the won- 

 derful tar sand-beds of the Athabasca, extending over an 

 enormous area. These certainly present a very striking 

 appearance. During warm weather, in many places, the faces 

 of the river banks, from three to five hundred feet in height^ 

 present the appearance of running tar, and here and there 

 tar wells are found, having been formed by the accumulation 

 of the viscid tar in natural receptacles of the rock. Thus 

 collected it has been commonly made use of by workmen in 

 the calking of the scows on the river.* 



*For further particulars regarding this most interesting locality, 

 see the report of Mr. McConnell, published in 1893 by the Geological 

 Survey of Canada. 



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