284 



Journal of a Voyage through the 



almost as much difficulty in carrying our canoe down the 

 mountain as we had in getting it up ; the men being not so 

 strong as on the former occasion, though they were in bet- 

 ter spirits ; and I was now enabled to assist them, my ancle 

 being almost well. We could not, however, proceed any 

 further till the following day, as we had the canoe to gum, 

 with several great and small poles to prepare : those we 

 had left here having been carried away by the water, though 

 we had left them in a position from fifteen to twenty feet 

 above the water-mark, at that time. These occupations 

 employed us till a very late hour. 



Thursday 22. The night was cold, and though the 

 morning was fine and clear, it was seven before we were in 

 a state of preparation to leave this place, sometimes driv- 

 ing with the current, and at other times shooting the 

 rapids. The latter had lost much of their former strength ; 

 but we, nevertheless, thought* it necessary to land very 

 frequently, in order to examine the rapids before we could 

 venture to run them. However the canoe being light, we 

 very fortunately passed them all, and at noon arrived at the 

 place where I appointed to meet Mr. Mackay and the hunt- 

 ers : there we found them, with plenty of excellent fat 

 meat, ready roasted, as they had killed two elks within a 

 few hundred yards of the spot where we then were. When 

 the men had satisfied their appetites, I sent them for as 

 much of the meat as they could carry. In coming hither, 

 Mr. Mackay informed me, that he and the hunters kept 

 along the high land, and did not see or cross the Indian 

 path. At the same time, there can be no doubt but the 

 road from this place to the upper part of the rapids is to be 

 preferred to that which we came, both for expedition and 

 safety. 



After staying here about an hour and an half, we pro- 

 ceeded with the stream, and landed where I had forgotten 

 my pipe-tomahawk and seal, on the eighteenth of May. 

 The former of them I now recovered. 



On leaving the mountains we saw animals grazing in 

 every direction. In passing along an island, we fired at 

 an elk, and broke its leg ; and, as it was now time tt* en- 

 camp, we landed ; when the hunters pursued the wounded 

 animal, which had crossed over to the main land, but could 

 not get up the bank. We went after it, therefore, in the 

 canoe, and killed it. To give some notion of our appe- 

 tites, I shall state the elk, or at least the carcase of it, 



