130 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



" The Portage of the Drowned" and it 

 received that name from a melancholy 

 accident which took place many years ago. 

 Two canoes arrived at the upper end of the 

 portage, in one of which there was an ex- 

 perienced guide. This man, judging from 

 the height of the river, deemed it practicable 

 to shoot the rapid, and determined upon 

 trying it. He accordingly placed himself 

 in the bow of his canoe, having previously 

 agreed, that if the passage was found easy, 

 he should, on reaching the bottom of the 

 rapid, fire a musket, as a signal for the 

 other canoe to follow. The rapid proved 

 dangerous, and called forth all the skill of 

 the guide, and the utmost exertion of his 

 crew, and they narrowly escaped destruc- 

 tion. Just as they were landing, an unfor- 

 tunate fellow, seizing the loaded fowling- 

 piece, fired at a duck which rose at the 

 instant. The guide, anticipating the con- 

 sequences, ran with the utmost haste to the 

 other end of the portage, but he was too 

 late ; the other canoe had pushed off, and 

 he arrived only to witness the fate of his 



