over the rocks a sheer thirty feet, and emptied into the Nascaupee.
Since leaving Seal Lake we had passed two rivers flowing in from the
north, and this was the second one coming from the south, marking the
point on the Indian map where we were to look for the portage trail
leading to the northward. Therefore a halt was made and camp was
pitched.

During the night the weather cleared, and Pete, Richards and Easton
were dispatched in the morning to scout the country to the northward
in search of the trail and signs of Indians. The ligaments of my side
were very stiff and sore from the strain they received the previous
day, and I remained in camp with Stanton to write up my records, take
an inventory of our food supply, and consider plans for the future.

It was August twelfth. How far we had still to go before reaching
Michikamau was uncertain, but, in view of our experiences below Seal
Lake and the difficulties met with in finding and following the old
Indian trail there, our progress would now, for a time at least, if we
traveled the portage route, be slower than on the river where we had
done fairly well. True, our outfit was much lighter than it had been
in the beginning, and we were in better shape for packing and were
able to carry heavier loads. Still we must make two trips over every
portage, and that meant, for every five miles of advance, fifteen
miles of walking and ten of those miles with packs on our backs. Had
we not better, therefore, abandon the further attempt to locate the
trail and, instead, follow the river which was beyond doubt the
quicker and the easier route? My inclinations rebelled against this
course. One of the objects of the expedition, for it was one of the
things that Hubbard had planned to do, was to locate the old trail, if
possible. To abandon the search for it now, and to follow the easier