Here
Quonab made what the Frenchmen call a demi-charge. He carried
half the stuff to the bank; then, wading, one at each end, they
hauled the canoe up the portage and reloaded her above. Another
strip of good going was succeeded by a long stretch of very swift
water that was two or three feet deep and between shores that
were densely grown with alders. The Indian landed, cut two
light, strong poles, and now, one at the bow, the other at the
stern, they worked their way foot by foot up the fierce current
until safely on the upper level.
Yet one more style of canoe propulsion was forced on them. They
came to a long stretch of smooth, deep, very swift water, almost
a rapid-one of the kind that is a joy when you are coming down
stream. It differed from the last in having shores that were not
alder-hidden, but open gravel banks. Now did Quonab take a long,
strong line from his war sack. One end he fastened, not to the
bow, but to the forward part of the canoe, the other to a
buckskin band which he put across his breast. Then, with Rolf in
the stern to steer and the Indian hauling on the bank, the canoe
was safely "tracked" up the "strong waters.
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