Next Morning We Found Ourselves Involved In A Confused Mass Of
Islands Through The Openings Of Which We Could Not Discern The Shore.
The
guide's knowledge of the river did not extend beyond the last portage,
and our perplexity continued till we observed some foam floating on the
water and took the direction from which it came.
The noise of a heavy
fall at the Mountain Portage reached our ears at the distance of four
miles and we arrived there at eight A.M. The portage was a difficult
ascent over a rocky island between which and the main shore were two
cataracts and a third in sight above them, making another portage. We
surprised a large brown bear which immediately retreated into the woods.
To the northward of the second portage we again found the channels
intricate but, the shores being sometimes visible, we ventured to
proceed. The character of the country was new and more interesting than
before. The mountainous and strong elevations receded from the bank and
the woods crept through their openings to the valleys behind, the
adventurous pine alone ascending their bases and braving storms unfelt
below.
At noon we landed at the Otter Portage where the river ran with great
velocity for half a mile among large stones. Having carried across the
principal part of the cargo the people attempted to track the canoes
along the edge of the rapid. With the first they succeeded but the other,
in which were the foreman and steersman, was overset and swept away by
the current.
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