70 



EED RIVER EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 



eastern arm of Lac la Croix. The canoe route passes 

 near the north shore of this extensive and beautiful lake. 

 High precipitous rock exposures begin to show them- 

 selves, often clothed with dense groves of pine rising 

 above the mass of light green aspen fohage which prevails. 

 Although Lac la Croix is fourteen or fifteen miles long, 

 yet our traverse did not exceed eight, for we entered the 

 Nameaukan Eiver, which issues from the north-western 

 coast, and takes a circuitous north-westerly direction, 

 bringing us to Eattlesnake Portage, where the river de- 

 scends by a beautiful cascade 12*14 feet, involving a por- 

 tage of 110 yards. 



We camped at the edge of the cascade, the portage 

 path offering the only even spot where our blankets could 

 be spread. The guide pointed significantly to the surging 

 waters at the foot of the falls, and with a quiet smile said, 

 " better not walk much in night." Three steps from my 

 resting-place would have precipitated me into the rapid, 

 and as a somnambulist happened to be one of the party, 

 he was carefully warned not to indulge in midnight ex- 

 plorations. The noise of the cascade effectually drove 

 sleep from my eyes, and although the night was really 

 short, it seemed an interminable age. Generally my 

 sleep was excellent, however hard the bed or stormy the 

 night, yet if rain did not penetrate the canvas tent, I slept 

 soundly and well, invariably awakening with the first 

 streak of day. 



The dawn of morning and the early start in this rocky 

 wilderness possess some characteristics peculiar to the 

 country and the strange companions with whom necessity 

 compels you to associate. Eising from a bed on the hard 

 rock, which you have softened by a couple of rugs or a 

 north blanket, and if time and opportunity permitted by 

 fresh spruce or pine boughs, the aspect of the sky first 



