I put the girl on shore, and endeavoured to shape
my passage home. But this I found was no easy task. The water was
rough, and the wind high, and the strong current, which runs through
that part of the lake to the Smith rapids, was dead against me. In
vain I laboured to cross this current; it resisted all my efforts,
and at each repulse I was carried farther down towards the rapids,
which were full of sunken rocks, and hard for the strong arm of a
man to stem - to the weak hand of a woman their safe passage was
impossible. I began to feel rather uneasy at the awkward situation
in which I found myself placed, and for some time I made desperate
efforts to extricate myself, by paddling with all my might. I soon
gave this up, and contented myself by steering the canoe in the path
that it thought fit to pursue. After drifting down with the current
for some little space, until I came opposite a small island, I
put out all my strength to gain the land. In this I fortunately
succeeded, and getting on shore, I contrived to drag the canoe so
far round the headland that I got her out of the current. All now
was smooth sailing, and I joyfully answered old Jenny's yells from
the landing, that I was safe, and would join her in a few minutes.
This fortunate manoeuvre stood me in good stead upon another
occasion, when crossing the lake, some weeks after this, in company
with a young female friend, during a sudden storm.
Two Indian women, heavily laden with their packs of dried venison,
called at the house to borrow the canoe, to join their encampment
upon the other side. It so happened that I wanted to send to the
mill that afternoon, and the boat could not be returned in time
without I went over with the Indian women and brought it back.
My young friend was delighted at the idea of the frolic, and as
she could both steer and paddle, and the day was calm and bright,
though excessively warm, we both agreed to accompany the squaws
to the other side, and bring back the canoe.
Mrs. Muskrat has fallen in love with a fine fat kitten, whom the
children had called "Buttermilk," and she begged so hard for the
little puss, that I presented it to her, rather marvelling how she
would contrive to carry it so many miles through the woods, and she
loaded with such an enormous pack; when, lo! the squaw took down
the bundle, and, in the heart of the piles of dried venison, she
deposited the cat in a small basket, giving it a thin slice of the
meat to console it for its close confinement. Puss received the
donation with piteous mews; it was evident that mice and freedom
were preferred by her to venison and the honour of riding on a
squaw's back.
The squaws paddled us quickly across, and we laughed and chatted
as we bounded over the blue waves, until we were landed in a dark
cedar-swamp, in the heart of which we found the Indian encampment.
A large party were lounging around the fire, superintending the
drying of a quantity of venison which was suspended on forked
sticks. Besides the flesh of the deer, a number of musk-rats were
skinned, and extended as if standing bolt upright before the fire,
warming their paws. The appearance they cut was most ludicrous. My
young friend pointed to the musk-rats, as she sank down, laughing,
upon one of the skins.
Old Snow-storm, who was present, imagined that she wanted one of
them to eat, and very gravely handed her the unsavoury beast, stick
and all.
"Does the old man take me for a cannibal?" she said. "I would as
soon eat a child."
Among the many odd things cooking at that fire there was something
that had the appearance of a bull-frog.
"What can that be?" she said, directing my eyes to the strange
monster. "Surely they don't eat bull-frogs!"
This sally was received by a grunt of approbation from Snow-storm;
and, though Indians seldom forget their dignity so far as to laugh,
he for once laid aside his stoical gravity, and, twirling the thing
round with a stick, burst into a hearty peal.
"Muckakee! Indian eat muckakee? - Ha! ha! Indian no eat muckakee!
Frenchmans eat his hind legs; they say the speckled beast much good.
This no muckakee! - the liver of deer, dried - very nice - Indian eat
him."
"I wish him much joy of the delicate morsel," said the saucy girl,
who was intent upon quizzing and examining everything in the camp.
We had remained the best part of an hour, when Mrs. Muskrat laid
hold of my hand, and leading me through the bush to the shore,
pointed up significantly to a cloud, as dark as night, that hung
loweringly over the bush.
"Thunder in that cloud - get over the lake - quick, quick, before it
breaks." Then motioning for us to jump into the canoe, she threw in
the paddles, and pushed us from shore.
We saw the necessity of haste, and both plied the paddle with
diligence to gain the opposite bank, or at least the shelter of the
island, before the cloud poured down its fury upon us. We were just
in the middle of the current when the first peal of thunder broke
with startling nearness over our heads. The storm frowned darkly
upon the woods; the rain came down in torrents; and there were we
exposed to its utmost fury in the middle of a current too strong
for us to stem.
