196 



A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



tunate fellow seizing the loaded fowling-piece, fired at a duck which 

 rose at the instant. The guide anticipating the consequences, 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 comrades. They got alarmed in the middle 

 of the rapid, the canoe was upset, and every man perished. 



The various rapids we have passed to-day, are produced by an 

 assemblage of islands and rocky ledges, which obstruct the river, and 

 divide it into many narrow channels. Two of these channels are 

 rendered still more difficult by accumulations of drift timber ; a cir- 

 cumstance which has given a name to one of the portages. The 

 rocks which form the bed of the river, and the numerous islands, 

 belong to the granite formation. The distance made to-day was 

 thirteen miles. 



July %\. — We embarked at four A.M. and pursued our course 

 down the river. The rocks cease at the last portage ; and below it 

 the banks are composed of alluvial soil, which is held together by 

 the roots of the trees and shrubs that crown their summits. The 

 river is about a mile wide, and the current is greatly diminished. 

 At eight we landed at the mouth of the Salt River, and pitched 

 our tents, intending to remain here this and the next day for the 

 purpose of fishing. After breakfast, which made another inroad on 

 our preserved meats, we proceeded up the river in a light canoe, to 

 visit the salt springs, leaving a party behind to attend the nets. 

 This river is about one hundred yards wide at its mouth. Its waters 

 did not become brackish until we had ascended it seven or eight 

 miles ; but when we had passed several rivulets of fresh water 

 which flowed in, the main stream became very salt, at the same 

 time contracting to the width of fifteen or twenty yards. At a 

 distance of twenty-two miles, including the windings of the river 

 the plains commence. Having pitched the tent at this spot, we set 

 out to visit the principal springs, and walked about three miles 



