with light ballast. They then came back overland for the packs.

This task [says Fraser] was as dangerous as going by water. The men
passed and repassed a declivity, on loose stones and gravel, which
constantly gave way under foot. One man, who lost the path, got in a
most intricate and perilous position. With a large package on his
back, he got so wedged amid the rocks that he could move neither
forward nor backward, nor yet unload himself. I crawled, not without
great risk, to his assistance, and saved his life by cutting his pack
so [that] it dropped back in the river. On this carrying-place, which
was two miles long, our shoes became shattered.

For several days after this the advance was by a succession of rapids
and portages. On June 9 the stream again narrowed to forty {94} yards
and swept violently between two overhanging precipices.

The water, which rolls down this passage in tumultuous waves and with
great velocity, had a frightful appearance. However, it being
absolutely impossible to carry canoes by land, all hands without
hesitation embarked on the mercy of the awful tide. Once on the water,
the die was cast; and the difficulty consisted in keeping the canoes
clear of the precipice on one side and clear of the gulfs formed by the
waves on the other. Thus skimming along as fast as lightning, the
crews, cool and determined, followed each other in awful silence; and
when we arrived at the end, we stood gazing at each other in silent
congratulation on our narrow escape from total destruction. After
breathing a little, we continued our course to the point where the
Indians camped.

The natives here warned Fraser that it would be madness to go forward.
At the same time they furnished him with a guide. The same evening the
party reached the place described by Fraser as 'a continual series of
cascades cut by rocks and bounded by precipices that {95} seemed to
have no end.' Never had he seen 'anything so dreary and dangerous.'
Towering above were 'mountains upon mountains whose summits are covered
with eternal snow.' An examination of the river for some distance
below convinced Fraser that it was impossible of navigation, and he
decided to make the remainder of the journey on foot. After building a
scaffold, on which the canoes and some provisions were placed and
covered with underbrush and moss, the party, on June 11, began their
tramp down the river-bank. Each man carried on his back a