that name being oppofite to the jun&ion of the road from the Mountain
Lake. They then embark on the Rofe Lake, about one mile from the
Eaft end o f it, and fleer Weft by South, in an oblique courfe> acrofs it
two miles}1 then Weft-North-Weft palling the Petite Perche to the Marten
Portage three miles. In this part of the lake the bottom is mud and
flime, with about three or four feet of water Over it; and here I frequently
ftrucka canoe pole o f twelve feet long, without meeting any other
obftru&ion than if the whole were water: it has, however, a peculiar, friction
or attra&ive power, fo that it is difficult to ipaddle a canoe over it.
There is a fmall fpace along the South fhore,‘where the water is deep,
and this effe& is not felt. In proportion to the diftance from this part*
the fuftiön becomes more powerful: I have, indeecf been told; that
loaded canoes have been in danger o f being fwallowed up, and havé only
owed their prefervation to other canoes, which were lighter; I have,
myfelf, found it very difficult to get away from this attractivepower* with
fix men, and great exertion, though they clid not appear1 to be in any
danger of finking.
Over againft this is a very high, rocky ridge, on the South fide, called
Marten Portage, which is but twenty paces long, and feparated from the
Perche Portage, which is four hundred and eighty paces, by a mud-pond,
covered with white fillies. From hence the courfe is on' the lake of the
fame name, Weft-South-Weft three miles to the height of land, where
the waters of the Dove or Pigeon River terminate, and which is one of the
fources o f the great St. Laurence in this diréCtion. Having carried
the canoe and lading over it, fix hundred arid feventy-nine paces, they
embark
embark on the lake of Hauteur de Terre*, which is in the fhape of an
horfe-fhoe. It ia< entered near the curve, and îeft at the extremity of
the Weftern limb, through a, very {hallow channel, where the canoe
pages half loaded for .thirty paces with the current, which leads through
the fucceeding lakes and rivers, and difembogues itfelf, by the river
Nelfon, into Hudfon’s-Bay. The firft o f thefe is Lac de pierres à fufil,
running Weft-South-Weft feven miles long, and two wide, and, making
an angle at North-Weft one mile more, becomes a river for half a mile,
tumbling over a rock, apd forming a fall apd portage, called the Efcalier,
of fifty-five paces; but From hence it is neither lake or river, but pof-
feffes the character o f both, and ends between large rocks, which caufe
a current or rapid, falling into a lake-pond for" about two miles and an
half, Weft-North-Weft, to the portage o f the Cheval du Bois. Here the
canoe and contents are carried three hundred and eighty paces, between
rocks; and within a quarter of a mile.isi the Portage des Gros Pins,
which is fix hundred and forty paces over an high ridge. The oppofite
fide of it is walhed by a fmall lake three miles round ; and the courfe is
through the Eaft end or fide of it, three quarters of a mile North-Eaft,
where .there is a rapid.. An irregular, meandering channel, between
rocky banks, then fucceeds, for. feven miles and an half, to the Maraboeuf
Lake, which extends North four miles, and is three quarters o f a mile
Wide, terminating by a rapid and décharge, of one hundred and eighty
paces, the rock o f Saginaga being in fight, which caufes a fall of about
feven feet, and a portage of fifty-five paces.
|?<SfjTh* route jwljuph,we have, been travelling hitherto, leads alonfcthe high rocky land or bank of
Lake Superior on the left. The face of the country offers a wild fcene of huge hills and rocks, feparated
fcy fbony ’Vallies, lakes, and ponds. Wherever there is the leafl foil, it is well covered with trees.
g2 Lake