At Noon
We Bade Farewell To Our Kind Friend Mr. Smith.
The crews commenced a
lively paddling song on quitting the shore which was continued until we
had lost sight of the houses.
We soon reached the western boundary of the
lakem and at two entered the Stony River, one of the discharges of the
Athabasca Lake into the Slave Lake and, having a favouring current,
passed swiftly along. This narrow stream is confined between low swampy
banks which support willows, dwarf birch, and alder. At five we passed
its conflux with the Peace River. The Slave River, formed by the union of
these streams, is about three-quarters of a mile wide. We descended this
magnificent river with much rapidity and, after passing through several
narrow channels, formed by an assemblage of islands, crossed a spot where
the waters had a violent whirling motion which, when the river is low, is
said to subside into a dangerous rapid; on the present occasion no other
inconvenience was felt than the inability of steering the canoes which
were whirled about in every direction by the eddies until the current
carried them beyond their influence. We encamped at seven on the swampy
bank of the river but had scarcely pitched the tents before we were
visited by a terrible thunderstorm; the rain fell in torrents and the
violence of the wind caused the river to overflow its banks so that we
were completely flooded. Swarms of mosquitoes succeeded the storm and
their tormenting stings, superadded to other inconveniences, induced us
to embark and, after taking a hasty supper, to pursue our voyage down the
stream during the night.
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