Then we followed that as a
matter of convenience. The base-line, cut the fall before, was the only
evidence of man we saw in the high country. It meant nothing in itself,
but was intended as a starting-point for the township surveys, whenever
the country should become civilized enough to warrant them. That
condition of affairs might not occur for years to come. Therefore the
line was cut out clear for a width of twenty feet.
We continued along it as along a trail until we discovered our last
lake--a body of water possessing many radiating arms. This was the
nearest we came to the real Kawagama. If we had skirted the lake,
mounted the ridge, followed a creek-bed, mounted another ridge, and
descended a slope, we should have made our discovery. Later we did just
that, under the guidance of Tawabinisay himself. Floating in the birch
canoe we carried with us we looked back at the very spot on which we
stood this morning.
But we turned sharp to the left, and so missed our chance. However, we
were in a happy frame of mind, for we imagined we had really made the
desired discovery.
Nothing of moment happened until we reached the valley of the River.
Then we found we were treed. We had been travelling all the time among
hills and valleys, to be sure, but on a high elevation. Even the bottom
lands, in which lay the lakes, were several hundred feet above
Superior. Now we emerged from the forest to find ourselves on bold
mountains at least seven or eight hundred feet above the main valley.
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