RUNNING THE RAPIDS. 47 
discovery of some straight spruce saplings, we landed 
as night approached, and a number of our men were 
sent to select a few for the purpose of making good 
tent-poles, to take the place of the rough ones we had 
been using. Besides spruce and other varieties of 
timber, balsam trees, the last seen on the northward 
journey, were found at this camp. 
On the morning of the 16th, though the weather con- 
tinued showery and a strong head wind had set in, we 
were early on our way, for we were anxious to reach 
Chippewyan a day or two before the return of the 
Grahame, that we might rate our chronometer and 
make all necessary preparations for a good-bye to the 
outermost borders of civilization. In descending the 
Athabasca we were making no survey of the course, nor 
any continuous examination of the geological features 
of the district, but were chiefly concerned in getting 
down to Chippewyan, where we were to receive our full 
loads of supplies, and from which place our work was 
really to begin. Despite the unpleasantness of the 
weather, therefore, our canoes were kept in the stream 
and all hands at the paddles, and by nightfall another 
stretch of about sixty miles was covered. We had now 
reached the low flat country at the delta of the river, 
where its waters break into many channels, but still a 
strong current was running, and this we were glad to 
find continued until within a distance of six or eight 
miles from the lake. Some parts of the river were much 
obstructed by driftwood grounded upon shoals; the 
banks, too, were low and marshy, and _ landing-places 
difficult to find. Several flocks of wild geese were seen, 
but none secured. 
