Next day (21st) we were early on the water, and passed the
crossing of the Indian portage path from St. Charles Bay, at La Pointe,
to the Falls of St. Anthony. We followed a wide bend of the river,
around the four _pause_ portage. This was a continued rapid. The men
toiled incessantly, being constantly in the water. The bark of the
canoes became so saturated with water that they were limber, and bent
under the weight of carrying them on the portages. We encamped, very
much tired, but the men soon rallied, and never complained. It was
admirable to see such fidelity and buoyancy of character.
We were now daily toiling up the ascent of the summit which separates
the basin of Lake Superior from the valley of the upper Mississippi. The
exertion was incredible. I expected every day some of the men to give
out, but their pride to conquer hardships was, with them, the point of
honor. They gloried in feats under which ordinary men would have
fainted. To carry a horse load over a portage path which a horse could
not walk, is an exploit which none but a Canadian voyageur would sigh
for the accomplishment of.
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