66 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



dred pounds' weight. This great lading 

 they annually carry between the depots and 

 the posts, in the interior ; and it rarely 

 happens that any accidents occur, if they 

 be managed by experienced bowmen and 

 steersmen, on whose skill the safety of the 

 canoe entirely depends in the rapids and 

 difficult places. When a total portage is 

 made, these two men carry the canoe, and 

 they often run with it, though its weight is 

 estimated at about three hundred pounds, 

 exclusive of the poles and oars, which are 

 occasionally left in where the distance is 

 short. 



On the 5th, we made an excursion for 

 the purpose of trying our canoe. A heavy 

 gale came on in the evening, which caused 

 a great swell in the lake, and in crossing 

 the waves we had the satisfaction to find 

 that our birchen vessel proved an excellent 

 sea-boat. 



July 7. — This morning some men and 

 their families, who had been sent off to 

 search for Indians with whom they intended 

 to pass the summer, returned to the fort 



