2 3 4 JOURNAL OF A VOYAGE THROUGH THE
*>793* half à mile, Eaft one mile and a quarter, South^Eaft by Eaft one mile,
June. ' '
*--- v— 1 South .by Eaft three • quarters of a mile, South-Eaft byrEaft one mile,
South-South-Eaft half a.milej Eaft one mile àÉd'à qûai^er’.llmth by Eaft
half a mile, Eaft a mile and an halfj South-South-Eaft'threevj miles, and
South-Weft three quarters of’ a mile. In the laft courfe the'.rocks con-,
tradted imfueh a maôner ôn both'fides'öf:‘the. river, as to« afford thé'appearance
o f the? ópper part ó f a fall o f catairaél.1 i Undèr thslappqehên-
fion we laftded on the left Ihore, where we- found a kind of'fodGpath,
imperfectly# traced, through which we cónjeClured that thé natives ocea-
fionally paffed with their cariöès and baggage. On- examining*.the. eourfe
of the rive#| höwever,fhófe did not appear to be any fall as \tee'xpe£led;
but .the rapids weie of a confiderable length and impaflable for a light
canoe; We had therefore no alternative but to: widen thej-road fo as to .
admit the paffagè of our canoe, which was noft carneddwith. great difficulty
; as -from her. frequent repairs, and nbt alwhyS -of the ufual: ma*
terials, her weight was fuéh, that (he cracked and Broke on the’ fbouldérs
o f the men who bore her. The labour and fatigue of ’ this undertaking,
from eight till twel ve, beggars all dëfcription,when we at length çôtiqtierëd
this afflicting pafiage, o f about half a mile^över^a rdéky'arid moft^rugged
hill. Our courfe was South-South-Weft;' 'Here! toôk à meridian âîti-
tude which gave me i5g/i42. 20. North latitude,'' We, howevdr, lbftffome
time to put our canoe in a condition to carry as- on wards/ ”* Our courfe
was South a quarter of a mile to the next carrying-placer Whadrwas nothing
more than a rocky point about twice the length of the canoe. From the
extremity of this point to the rocky and almoft perpendicular bank that
rofe on the opppfite Ihore, is not more than forty or fifty yards. The great
body of water, at the fame time tumbling in fucceffive cafcades along
the
NORTH-WEST CONTINENT OF AMERICA. 2 3 5
the firft carrykig-plabe, rolls, through- this narrow paflkgë in a very tur- j 793-
bid current?*, and full of whirlpools. On the banks Of the fivef there was '—~v~
^reat plenty*,-of Wildonipns, which whefamixed-up Withóó^péfömican Was
% gr^at improvement of it ; though* theypfoduced a phyfifcal'effeÊt on our
appetitjes^Which was rather inconvenient;to 'thë ftateóf our provifions. f
^ Here we, embanked, and fleered!South-Eaft by; Eaft three quarters of
a mile*; ,’We now faw.a fmoke qh the Ihore ;> but before we could reach
land the;; natives had deferred their, camp, which >appeared, to’ be
Ilrè&ed, for no more than two families. My two Indians were mftantly
difpatched in fearch of them, and, by following their tracks, they foon
overtook them; /-buff their langiiaige was mutually unintelligible; and all
attejnpts to:pfodueea. friendly communicatibm^erefruitlelsj^ They nó
foonef. perceived my. young men than they prepared’ their bows and
arrows, and made figns for them not to advance; and they thought it
prudent to/deffftfrom proceeding, though not before, the* natives had
difcharged. five airrows at them, which, however, they avoided,bynneans
.bf.the trees. . When they. retüjned with tbis^account, I very much regretted
that I had not accompanied-them; and as .thefe people, could
mot be at any .ye|y. great diftaBcei;ii,took Mr. sMaekay,- and dno ;of5. the.
Indians with/me in order to,overtake them; but tbey>had got lofar that
it,would have been..imprudent in> me. My IndianSj
Who, I were? terrified at thfe manner in which thefe, natives
Received them, ihforitfed mé^ thatyvbeftdëf their, Bo^s, arrows, and fpears^
•they wete /armed .with long -knives,. and that they ■ accompanied.' their
ftrange antics with .menacing aöion&.and' loud .Ihoutingsi On iny return,
I found my people indulging their curtofky dn examining the bags
II h 2 - and