There was scarcely a stir in the
air, and the sun beat down on the sand-hills in no gentle manner.
The perspiration ran down the men's faces as they carried, and the
flies were beginning to come. After lunch Job set up two impromptu
wigwams, stringing a tarpaulin over each, and under these shelters
the men rested till 4 P.M. By camping time the outfit had been
moved up over the portage about a mile, and I had learned something
more about what packing means.
All day it had been slow, hot work, and the men were tired. I
thought I would take a hand in making camp and getting supper. We
had a beautiful camping-place, its only drawback being the distance
from the water supply, for we were now 200 feet above the river,
and some distance back from it. The ground was dry and moss
covered, and the scattered spruce supplied the carpets for the
tents which were soon ready for the night.
There were bannocks to be made again, and I helped to cook them.
It was no small surprise to find how much art there is in doing it.
At first I thought I could teach the men a lot of things about
cooking bannocks, but it was not long before I began to suspect
that I had something to learn. They were made simply with the
flour, salt, baking-powder and water, but without any shortening.
This made them tough, but they carried better so. As George said:
"You can throw them round, or sit on them, or jump on them, and
they are just as good after you have done it as before."
In cooking them a piece of the dough is taken and worked into a
round lump, which is pressed flat into a frying-pan. It is then
placed before the fire till the upper side of the bannock is
slightly browned, when it is turned and replaced till the other
side is browned. As soon as the bannock is stiff enough to stand
on its edge it is taken out of the pan to make room for more, and
placed before a rock near the fire, or on a pair of forked sticks
until it has had time, as nearly as can be calculated, to cook
halfway through. Then it is turned again and allowed to cook from
the other side. In this process the possibilities in the way of
burning hands and face, and of dropping the bannocks into the fire
and ashes are great. I seemed to take advantage of them all, but
if my efforts were not much help they certainly furnished amusement
for the men. The task is a long one too, and it was nine o'clock
when supper was ready.
Job, who had been absent for some time, returned now with a report
that three-quarters of a mile further on we could again take the
river. Despite the day's work he looked all alive with interest
and energy. He loved to pole up a rapid or hunt out a trail just
as an artist loves to paint.
Supper over, we sat at the camp fire for a little while. The
sunset light still tinged the sky back of Mount Sawyer, and from
its foot came up the roar of the rapid. Now and again a bird's
evening song came down to us from the woods on the hill above, and
in the tent Joe was playing softly on the mouth organ, "Annie
Laurie" and "Comin' through the Rye." After I had gone to my tent
the men sang, very softly, an Indian "Paddling Song."
A stream of bright sunlight on the roof of my tent roused me on
Saturday morning, and mingling with the sound of the river came
again that of the "Paddling Song." At breakfast all were
exclaiming over the wonderful weather, George insisting that he did
not believe this could be Labrador at all.
That morning I was to make my maiden attempt at following a new
trail, and when the last load was ready I went first to try my
fortunes. The trail meant just a little snip off the bark of a
young tree here, the top of a bush freshly broken there, again a
little branch cut showing that the axe had been used. There was
not a sign of any path. The way was not always the easiest, and
sometimes not the shortest, but it was always the quickest. My
heart quite swelled with pride when I reached the river at 8.30
A.M. having missed the trail but once, and having found it again
with little delay. Already it had grown hot on the hills, and the
mosquitoes were beginning to come, so that it was good to be back
at the river again; but before the men went away for more loads I
had to promise very solemnly that I would not go on the rocks by
the rapids.
By noon the whole outfit was at the river, we had lunch, and the
men rested an hour and then we were off again. A mile of paddling
and two short portages brought us to the head of what the trappers
call "Three Mile Rapid." The river was very picturesque here, and
in midstream were great swells which curled back like ocean
breakers as the torrent of water poured over the boulders of the
riverbed. I smile now remembering how I asked George if be thought
I should see anything so fine as this rapid on, the rest of my
journey.
Splendid as the rapids were, it was a great relief to reach smooth
water again, though the current was still swift. Passing a bend
half a mile above we came in sight of a beautiful wooded island,
and saw that we had reached the edge of the burned-over country.
It would scarcely be possible to convey any adequate idea of the
contrast.
