18 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



that was nearest to us, prepared breakfast. 

 After which the other deer was sent for, 

 and we went down to the river, which was 

 about three hundred yards wide, and flowed 

 with great velocity through a broken rocky 

 channel. Having searched for a part where 

 the current was most smooth, the canoe 

 was placed in the water at the head of a 

 rapid, and St. Germain, Solomon Belanger, 

 and I, embarked in order to cross. We 

 went from the shore very well, but in mid- 

 channel the canoe became difficult to 

 manage under our burden as the breeze 

 was fresh. The current drove us to the 

 edge of the rapid, when Belanger unluckily 

 applied his paddle to avert the apparent 

 danger of being forced down it, and lost his 

 balance. The canoe was overset in conse- 

 quence in the middle of the rapid. We 

 fortunately kept hold of it, until we touched 

 a rock where the water did not reach 

 higher than our waists ; here we kept our 

 footing, notwithstanding the strength of the 

 current, until the water was emptied out of 

 the canoe. Belanger then held the canoe 



