Adventure and adventurers > Away in the wilderness, or, Life among the red Indians and fur-traders of North America

38
AWAY IN THE WILDERNESS.
moment they were floating behind the second rock,
a few yards higher up the stream.
Thus they darted from rock to rock, gaining a
few yards at each dart, until at last they swept
into the smooth water at the head of the rapid.
Many a time was this repeated that day, for
rapids were numerous ; their progress was there¬
fore slow. Sometimes they came to parts of the
river where the stream was very strong, but deep,
and not broken by rocks, so that they had no
eddies to dart into. In such places Arrowhead
and Heywood walked along the bank and hauled
the canoe up by means of a line, while Jasper re¬
mained in it to steer. This was hard work, for
the banks in places were very steep, in some parts
composed of soft mud, into which the men sank
nearly up to their knees, and in other places
covered so thickly with bushes that it was almost
impossible to force a path through them. Jasper
and the Indian took the steering-paddle by turns,
and when Heywood required a rest he got into his
place in the middle of the Canoe ; but they never
halted for more than a few minutes at a time.
All day they paddled and dragged the canoe slowly
up against the strong current, and when night
closed in they found they had advanced only three
miles on their journey.
The last obstacle they came to that day was a
roaring waterfall about thirty feet high. Here, it