nd looked round upon his auditors. Alas! for the
sympathy of man--the half of them had gone to sleep; and Baptiste, for
whose benefit the story had been related, lay, or rather sprawled, upon
the turf behind the fire, his shaggy head resting on the decayed stump
of an old tree, and his empty pipe hanging gracefully from his half-open
mouth. A slight "humph" escaped the worthy guide as he shook the ashes
from his pipe, and rolling his blanket round him, laid his head upon the
ground.

Early the following morning we raised the camp and continued our
journey. The scenery had now become more wild and picturesque. Large
pines became numerous; and the rocky fissures, through which the river
rushed in a black unbroken mass, cast a gloomy shadow upon us as we
struggled to ascend. Sometimes we managed to get up these rapids with
the paddles; and when the current was too powerful, with long poles,
which the men fixed in the ground, and thus pushed slowly up; but when
both of these failed, we resorted to the tracking line, upon which
occasions four of the men went on shore and dragged us up, leaving four
in the canoe to paddle and steer it. When the current was too strong
for this, they used to carry parts of the cargo to the smooth water
further up, and drag the canoe up light, or, taking it on their
shoulders, carry it overland. We made nine or ten of these portages in
two days. In the afternoon we came in view of a Roman Catholic mission
station, snugly situated at the bottom of a small bay or creek; but as
it was a little out of our way, and from its quiet appearance seemed
deserted, we did not stop.

In the afternoon of the following day, the 9th of September, we arrived
at the Company's post, called Rat Portage House, where we were
hospitably entertained for a few hours by Mr McKenzie, the gentleman in
charge. On the portage, over which we had to carry our canoe and
baggage, a large party of Indians of both sexes and all ages were
collected to witness our departure; and Mr McKenzie advised us to keep
a sharp lookout, as they were much addicted to appropriating the
property of others to their own private use, provided they could find an
opportunity of doing so unobserved; so, while our men were running
backwards and forwards, carrying the things over the rocks, Mr Bain and
his lady remained at one end to guard them, and I at the other.
Everything, however, was got safely across; the Indians merely stood
looking on,