Its Shores, Though Scantily Supplied
With Wood, Are Very Picturesque.
Akaitcho caused himself to be paddled by his slave, a young man of the
Dog-Rib nation whom he
Had taken by force from his friends; when he
thought himself however out of reach of our observation he laid aside a
good deal of his state and assisted in the labour; and after a few days'
further acquaintance with us he did not hesitate to paddle in our
presence or even carry his canoe on the portages. Several of the canoes
were managed by women who proved to be noisy companions, for they
quarrelled frequently, and the weakest was generally profuse in her
lamentations, which were not at all diminished when the husband attempted
to settle the difference by a few blows from his paddle.
An observation near the centre of the lake gave 114 degrees 13 minutes 39
seconds West and 33 degrees 8 minutes 06 seconds East variation.
Leaving the lake we ascended a very strong rapid and arrived at a range
of three steep cascades situated in the bend of the river. Here we made a
portage of one thousand three hundred yards over a rocky hill which
received the name of the Bowstring Portage from its shape. We found that
the Indians had greatly the advantage of us in this operation; the men
carried their small canoes, the women and children the clothes and
provisions, and at the end of the portage they were ready to embark,
whilst it was necessary for our people to return four times before they
could transport the weighty cargo with which we were burdened.
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