below us, which, if we had got amohg theiB, wowld hateiö^olved us and
the canoe in one common deftruSion. We had np. other alternative
than to return by the fame courfe,'we came,;or to hazard the traverfe, the
river on this fide being bounded by a rangé of fteep, -overhanging rocks;
beneath which the current was driven on with refiftlefs- impeiuofity from
the cafcades. Here are feveral illapds of fólid rock, covered with a
finall portion of;, .verdure, which have been worn ;away:;by\ «théfeconr
ft,apt force, of the^epyrent, and pecaifiöpaljyjj^sh Ispreftnne^^aee^at'
the water’s edge, fo as to be reduced in that, part to one fourth the .extent
of the upper furface;, prefentingj as it were, fo imany 1 arge tables^ each’of
which was fupported by a-pedeftal p f
They are very elevated for ffifh a fituation,, and; aftbrd an aCylnm for
geefe, which were at this time breeding on thesm* By crofting fropi One
to the other of thefe iflands, we came at length' tothe main trayerfe, on
which we ventured, and were fuccelsful ip our palfage. • ;Mr. ^ackay*
and the Indians, who obferved our manoeuvres from, the top o|&j&3 röek,
were in continual alarm for.-our fafety, Wttfe which their own, indeed,
may be ,faid to have been rnearly^ cOnnefted: ’hpweycr, the'-dangers
that we encountered were ve ry ; much, augmented: jbyTf thOjdieay^JiOadr
ing of the canoe.
When we had effeóled our paffage, the current on the Weft fide was
almofi equally violent with that from whence we had Juft: efcapedj buf
the craggy bank being fomewhat lower we were enabled; with a line of
fixty fathoms, to tow the canoe, till we came to thé footof the moft rapid
cafcade we had hitherto feen. Here we unloaded, and carried every
thing over a rocky point o f an hundred and twenty paces, § When the,
canoe
canoe was reloaded* I, with thofe of my people who were not immediately
employed, afeended the bank, which Was there, and indeed, as far as
We could feè'it, eb'mpofed o f clayyftone, and a ydlow gravel'.' My prefent
situation'was fo elevated, that the men, who were'coming up a ftrotxg
point could not'hear me; though I called to theni with the utmofl: ftrength
*o f my Voice,* to lighten the canoe of part of its lading. And here I
could not but* refleft, with infinite anxiety5, on the'hazard of my enter-
prize: "önè falfêdtep* o f thofe who Were attached’tb'thé dine’4 of the breaks
ing of the line itfelf, would have at ohcë configned the canoe, and every
thing it contained, to inftant deftru&ion.: i-ti hoWeVer, afeended the rapid
in pérfeél lècurity, but new dangers immèdiately prefented themfelves,
for ftones, both'fmall and great, were continualfy' rolling from the bank,
fo as* to render the fituation.of thofe-who lwere;dragging the'canoe be-
nektbhit extremely perilous; befides, they were-at every’ ftep in danger;
from the ftfeepnefs of the ground;; offalling into ithe water: nor-waé my
folicitude diminilhed ‘by my being neceflarily rehioved at times from
the fight of thém. ?
• In our paffage-through the^wóods', we came to an inclbfure/which
hadbeeh formed by the natives lor thg purpofeof fëttih^’llarës* fóV 'thé
elk, and of which* we1 cöüld not difeover^ tdd'bXtent;’ After ytt had
travelled ‘ for feme hdtfrfc -through' the' fórëft;^ which co'nfiftedbfrthe
fpruce;birch, and the large!! poplar^ I had evet^fbenV we ’funk down
j^pon^thé liver, where the bank is low, and nekr'the föot;óPa mountain •
bêtweènlwhith, t(fid an high ridge, the river !flöw§ in' a channel of' about
one hundred yards'broad ; thdiSgh^kt a lmall diftance below, it rufites oh
between perpendiCiiMr rocks, 'where it is not much moré than half that’
Z . breadth.