Just As They Were Landing An
Unfortunate Fellow, Seizing The Loaded Fowling-Piece, Fired At A Duck
Which Rose At The Instant.
The guide, anticipating the consequences, ran
with the utmost haste to the other end of the portage but he was too
late:
The other canoe had pushed off and he arrived only to witness the
fate of his comrades. They got alarmed in the middle of the rapid, the
canoe was upset, and every man perished.
The various rapids we passed this day are produced by an assemblage of
islands and rocky ledges which obstruct the river and divide it into many
narrow channels. Two of these channels are rendered still more difficult
by accumulations of drift timber, a circumstance which has given a name
to one of the portages. The rocks which compose the bed of the river and
the numerous islands belong to the granite formation. The distance made
today was thirteen miles.
July 21.
We embarked at four A.M. and pursued our course down the river. The rocks
ceased at the last portage and below it the banks are composed of
alluvial soil which is held together by the roots of trees and shrubs
that crown their summits. The river is about a mile wide and the current
is greatly diminished. At eight we landed at the mouth of the Salt River
and pitched our tents, intending to remain there that and the next day
for the purpose of fishing. After breakfast, which made another inroad on
our preserved meats, we proceeded up the river in a light canoe to visit
the salt springs, leaving a party behind to attend the nets.
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