They examined minutely the spot of encampment to form a judgment of the number of canoes that had preceded them; and they advanced, armed, and with great caution, through the woods.

Their fears however on this occasion were fortunately groundless.
By noon on the 12th, the boats and their cargoes having been conveyed across the portage, we embarked and pursued our course.

The Saskatchewan becomes wider above the Grand Rapid and the scenery improves.

The banks are high, composed of white clay and limestone, and their summits are richly clothed with a variety of firs, poplars, birches and willows.

The current runs with great rapidity and the channel is in many places intricate and dangerous from broken ridges of rock jutting into the stream.