now almost entirely consisted—the canoes were again launched in the swift stream, in which during the day rapid after rapid was run, until six were successfully passed and a descent of over a hundred feet had been made.
At about six o'clock in the evening, having made twenty miles, a fortunate incident occurred. As we were approaching a seventh rapid we suddenly found ourselves enveloped in a dense chilling mist, which so obstructed the view that we were unable to proceed. As we went ashore at the head of the rapid we discovered, much to our delight, a little patch of stunted black spruce trees. They were twisted and gnarled, and not more than four or five feet in height, but as fuel they were the source of much comfort, and beside them we decided to camp. It was Saturday night. During the day's run we had been soaked by the spray of the rapids, and were therefore in good condition to again enjoy the warm, cheerful blaze of a fire, around which we all huddled and sat far into the night, drying our clothing, rehearsing adventures of the day and discussing the prospects of the future.
The morrow being Sunday we had a further opportunity of enjoying the camp-fire, cooked provisions, and dry clothing, all which are rare luxuries in the Barren Lands. Our fishing nets, which had been set in the river the night before, were taken up loaded with magnificent whitefish and trout, the former ranging from six to ten pounds in weight, and the latter up to twenty-five pounds.
During the afternoon, as my brother was tramping in the interior he reached the summit of an adjacent hill,
