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Journal of a Voyage through the 



couragement and dismay. I was, indeed, informed that 

 murmurs prevailed among them, of which, however, I 

 took no notice. When we were assembled together for 

 the night, I gave each of them a dram, and in a short time 

 they retired to the repose which they so much required. 

 We could discover the termination of the mountains at a 

 considerable distance on either side of us, which, accord- 

 ing to my conjecture, marked the course of the great river. 

 On the mountains to the East there were several fires, as 

 their smokes were very visible to us. Excessive heat 

 prevailed throughout the day. 



Monday 17. Having sat up till twelve last night, which 

 had been my constant practice since we had taken our pre- 

 sent guide, I awoke Mr. Mackay to watch him in turn. 

 I then laid down to rest, and at three I was awakened to 

 be informed that he had deserted. Mr. Mackay, with 

 whom I was displeased on this occasion, and the Cancre, 

 accompanied by the dog, went in search of him, but he 

 had made his escape : a design which he had for some 

 time meditated, though I had done every thing in my 

 power to induce him to remain with me. 



This misfortune did not produce any relaxation in our 

 exertions. At an early hour of the morning we were all 

 employed in cutting a passage of three quarters of a mile, 

 through which we carried our canoe and cargo, when we 

 put her into the water with her lading, but in a very short 

 time were stopped by the drift-wood, and were obliged to 

 land and carry. In short, we pursued our alternate jour- 

 nies, by land and water, till noon, when we could proceed 

 no further, from the various small, unnavigable channels 

 into which the river branched in every direction ; and no 

 other mode of getting forward now remained for us, but 

 by cutting a road across a neck of land. I accordingly dis- 

 patched two men to ascertain the exact distance, and we 

 employed the interval of their absence in unloading and 

 getting the canoe out of the water. It was eight in the 

 evening when we arrived at the bank of the great river. 

 This journey was three quarters of a mile East North- 

 East, through a continued swamp, where, in many places, 

 we waded up to the middle of our thighs. Our course in 

 the small river was about South-East by East three miles. 

 At length we enjoyed, after all our toil and anxiety, the 

 inexpressible satisfaction of finding ourselves on the bank 

 of a navigable river, on the West side of the first great 

 range of mountains. 



