Page:Across the sub-Arctics of Canada (1897).djvu/50

 foam and spray, rose buoyantly on the waves, and again we breathed freely. It was a lucky thing for us that the canoes were not loaded, for had they been they never would have floated after that plunge, but would have disappeared like lead in the billows. We afterwards found we had taken the rapid in the very worst spot, and that near the right side of the river We might have made the descent free of danger. Without a guide, however, such mistakes will sometimes occur in spite of every precaution.

Poor John, my bowman, was badly unstrung as a result of this adventure, and declared that he did not want to shoot any more waterfalls; and for that matter, others of us were of much the same mind. One more small rapid, the Moberly, completed the series, and then for a few miles we enjoyed calm water until, toward evening, we reached Fort McMurray.

This settlement, containing in all five small log buildings—a warehouse, a store, the traders' dwelling and two Indian houses—is situated on a cleared tongue of land formed by the junction of the Clear Water River with the Athabasca, and is about two hundred and fifty miles below the Landing. The site of the post is at an elevation of forty or fifty feet above the water, but in the immediate background, and on both banks of the river, the ground rises abruptly, and is covered by a thick growth of poplar, spruce and birch trees. At the time of our arrival two parties of Indians, one Cree and the other Chippewyan, occupying in all a dozen or more lodges, were encamped at the place, and were to be seen in groups here and there idly putting in the time, while everywhere their mangy canines skulked and prowled