A Woman's Way Through Unknown Labrador An Account Of The Exploration Of The Nascaupee And George Rivers By Mrs. Leonidas Hubbard, Junior
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He Smiled And Said, 'I Don't
Know,' But As If He Thought That Might Be The Trouble.
"Later. - Just a little below our camp we found a river coming in
with a wild rush from the east.
It was the largest we had yet seen
and we wondered if our reckoning could be so far out that this
might be the river not far from the post of which the Nascaupees
had told us. Then so anxious for the noon observation and so glad
to have a fine day for it. Result 57 degrees, 43 minutes, 28
seconds. That settled it, but all glad to be rapidly lessening the
distance between us and Ungava.
"After noon, more rapids and I got out above one of them to walk.
I climbed up the river wall to the high, sandy terrace above. This
great wall of packed boulders is one of the most characteristic
features of the lower river. It is thrown up by the action of ice
in the spring floods, and varies all the way from twenty feet at
its beginning to fifty and sixty feet farther down. One of the
remarkable things about it is that the largest boulders lie at the
top, some of them so huge as to weigh tons. On the terrace, moss
berries and blue berries were so thick as to make walking slippery.
The river grows more magnificent all the time. I took one
photograph of the sun's rays slanting down through a rift in the
clouds, and lighting up the mountains in the distance. I am
feeling wretched over not having more films. How I wish I had
brought twice as many.
"While running the rapid George and Job were nearly wrecked. Job
changed his mind about the course a little too late and they had a
narrow escape. They were whirled round and banged up against a
cliff with the bottom of the canoe tipped to the rock and held
there for a while, but fortunately did not turn over till an
unusually tempestuous rush of water reached up and lifted the canoe
from its perch down into the water again. Then tying a rope at
either end they clambered out to a precarious perch on a slope in
the cliff. By careful manoeuvring they succeeded in turning the
canoe round and getting in again, thus escaping from the trap. Joe
and Gilbert came through without mishap. Practically the whole
river from Indian House Lake is like a toboggan slide. I shall be
glad for everyone and especially for Job, when we have left the
rapids behind. He says be feels better to-night. Saw fresh
caribou tracks upon the terrace. Have been finding beautiful
bunches of harebell (Cornua uniflora) in the clefts of the rocks
along the river. They are very lovely. Once to-day the lonely cry
of a wolf came down to us from high up on the mountain side. The
mountains are splendid. We are in the midst of scenes which have a
decidedly Norwegian look.
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