I 
V , ' , 
CANOES STRANDED, 84J 
lashed, in order to render them more manage^ 
able, we in a short time contrived to haul one 
of them into deep water; here, however, the 
rapidity of the current was so great, that not¬ 
withstanding all our endeavours to the contrary, 
the canoe was forcibly swept away from us, 
and in the attempt to hold it fast we had the 
misfortune to see it nearly Idled with water. 
Deprived thus of one of our canoes, and of 
a great part of our baggage in it, which, for 
aught we knew, was irrecoverably lost, we 
determined to proceed more cautiously with 
the remaining one ; having returned, therefore, 
to the bank, we carried every thing that was 
in the canoe on our shoulders to the shore, 
which was about forty yards distant; no very 
easy or agreeable task, as the water reached up 
to our waists, and the current was so strong 
that it was with the utmost difficulty we could 
keep our feet. The canoe being emptied, 
we brought it, as nearly as we could guess, 
to the spot where the other one had been 
swept away from us, and one of the party 
then getting into it with a paddle, we com¬ 
mitted it, pursuant to his desire, to the stream, 
hoping that it would be carried down after the 
other, and thus we should bo able to recover 
both it and the things which it contained. In 
a few seconds the stream carried the canoe out 
of pur sight, for the moon shone but faintly 
/ 
