Page:Historic highways of America (Volume 7).djvu/121

 ward as rapidly as possible on the twenty-fifth and longest portage, four miles and a quarter over the Height of Land. For once their misfortunes wore the look of blessings: there was little freight. The provisions weighed only four or five pounds per man. A large part of the gunpowder proved to be damaged, and was thrown away The bateaux had broken up one by one, until some of the companies had scarcely any left. Morgan had preserved seven, and was determined on taking them across, for there was no other way to transport his military stores down the Chaudière; but resolution of such a temper was now beyond mere men. An attempt was made to trail the bateaux up a brook that enters Arnold Pond; but the attempt had to be given up, and each company, except Morgan's, took only a single boat over the portage.

"Even in this light order, the troops were hardly able to conquer the mountain. There was a trail, to be sure, and Steele's pioneers had bettered it; but a mountain trail, even when good, is not a highway, except in altitude. 'Rubbish' had been