A General History of the Fur Trade. 25 



four hundred and fifty-six paces ; next to this is Mauvis de 

 Musique, where many men have been crushed to death by 

 the canoes, and others have received irrecoverable injuries. 

 The last in this river is the Turtle Portage, eighty-three 

 paces, on entering the lake of that name, where, indeed, the 

 river may be said to take its source. At the first vase from 

 whence to the great river, the country has the appearance of 

 having been over-run by fire, and consists in general of huge 

 rocky hills. The distance of this Portage, which is the 

 height of land, between the waters of the St. Laurence and 

 the Utawas, is one thousand five hundred and thirteen paces 

 to a small canal in a plain, that is just sufficient to carry the 

 loaded canoe about one mile to the next vase, which is seven 

 hundred and twenty-five paces. It would be twice this dis- 

 tance, but the narrow creek is dammed in the beaver fashion, 

 to float the canoes to this barrier, through which the)' pass, 

 when the river is just sufficient to bear them through a 

 swamp of two miles to the last vase, of one thousand and 

 twenty-four paces in length. Though the river is increas- 

 ed in this Dart, some care is necessary to avoid rocks and 

 stamps of trees. In about six miles is the lake Nepisingui, 

 which is computed to be twelve leagues long, though the 

 route of the canoes is something more : it is about fifteen 

 msles wide in the widest part, and bounded with rocks. Its 

 inhabitants consist of the remainder of a numerous convert- 

 ed tribe, called Nepisinguis of the Algonquin nation. Out 

 of it flows the Riviere des Francois, over rocks of a con- 

 siderable height. In a bay to the East of this, the road 

 leads over the Portage of the Chaudiere des Francois, five 

 hundred and forty-four paces, to still water. It must have 

 acquired the name of Kettle, from a great number of holes 

 in the solid rock of a cylindrical form, and not unlike that 

 culinary utensil. They are observable in many parts along 

 strong bodies of water, and where, at certain seasons, and 

 distinct periods, it is well known the water inundates ; at 

 the bottom of them are generally found a number of small 

 stones and pebbles. This circumstance justifies the con- 

 clusion, that at some former period these rocks formed the 

 bed of a branch of the discharge of this lake, although some 

 of them are upwards of ten feet above the present level of 

 the water at its greatest height. They are, indeed, to be 

 seen along every great river throughout this wide extended 

 country. The French river is very irregular, both as to its 

 breadth and form, and is so interspersed with islands, that 



