instead
of by candlelight, under the folds of our canvas tent. After it was
over, we again embarked, and proceeded on our way.

The men used to row for a space of time denominated a _pipe_; so called
from the circumstance of their taking a smoke at the end of it. Each
_spell_ lasted for nearly two hours, during which time they rowed
without intermission. The _smoke_ usually occupied five or ten minutes,
after which they pulled again for two hours more; and so on. While
travelling in boats, it is only allowable to put ashore for breakfast;
so, about noon, we had a cold dinner in the boat: and, with appetites
sharpened by exposure to the fresh air, we enjoyed it pretty well.

In a couple of days we branched off into Steel River, and began its
ascent. The current here was more rapid than in Hayes River; so rapid,
indeed, that, our oars being useless, we were obliged to send the men
ashore with the tracking-line. Tracking, as it is called, is dreadfully
harassing work. Half of the crew go ashore, and drag the boat slowly
along, while the other half go to sleep. After an hour's walk, the
others then take their turn; and so on, alternately, during the whole
day.

The banks of the river were high, and very precipitous; so that the poor
fellows had to scramble along, sometimes close to the water's edge, and
sometimes high up the bank, on ledges so narrow that they could scarcely
find a footing, and where they looked like flies on a wall. The banks,
too, being composed of clay or mud, were very soft, rendering the work
disagreeable and tiresome; but the light-hearted _voyageurs_ seemed to
be quite in their element, and laughed and joked while they toiled
along, playing tricks with each other, and plunging occasionally up to
the middle in mud, or to the neck in water, with as much nonchalance as
if they were jumping into bed.

On the fifth day after leaving York Factory, we arrived at the Rock
Portage. This is the first on the route, and it is a very short one. A
perpendicular waterfall, eight or ten feet high, forms an effectual
barrier to the upward progress of the boats by water; so that the only
way to overcome the difficulty is to carry everything across the flat
rock, from which the portage derives its name, and reload at the upper
end.

Upon arriving, a novel and animating scene took place. Some of the men,
jumping ashore, ran briskly to and fro with enormous burdens on their
backs; whilst others hauled a