Page:Narrative of the Discoveries on the North Coast of America.djvu/90

 of which we took up our night's lodgings, measured three yards in girth, at five feet from the ground.

25th.—There fell a light rain during the night, and a dense mist hung low down upon the sides of the lofty hills. We soon reached a narrow channel, where the stream rushes impetuously between overhanging turret-shaped rocks, and descended it for upwards of a mile; the water boiling and hissing under our feet, with numerous open places on either side of us. Proceeding alternately upon the river and through the woods, we crossed "Portage la Bonne," where two Indians had recently cut their hieroglyphics on the trees, to notify to their friends that they had passed on a hunting excursion, and what animals they had killed. This is a fine country for the chase, and so little frequented in the winter, that it may be regarded as an extensive preserve. We saw three moose-deer on the top of one of the hills; and their tracks, and those of the wood-buffalo, were numerous in every direction. The valley of the river is entirely sheltered from the inclement north and north-west winds, but its exposure to the east usually renders the snow deep and soft, as we found to our cost. It had rained smartly here in the beginning of the month, while it snowed elsewhere,