ORT, WITH HUMBLING RESULTS.

It may be as well to remark here, that the Norsemen were not altogether
ignorant of the course of the great river on which they had now
embarked. During their sojourn in those regions they had, as we have
said, sent out many exploring parties, and were pretty well acquainted
with the nature of the country within fifty miles or so in all
directions. These expeditions, however, had been conducted chiefly on
land; only one of them by water.

That one consisted of a solitary canoe, manned by four men, of whom
Heika was steersman, while Hake managed the bow-paddle, these having
proved themselves of all the party the most apt to learn the use of the
paddle and management of the canoe. During the fight with the savages,
recorded in a previous chapter, the brothers had observed that the man
who sat in the bow was of quite as much importance in regard to steering
as he who sat in the stern; and when they afterwards ascended the river,
and found it necessary to shoot hither and thither amongst the surges,
cross-currents, and eddies of a rapid, they then discovered that simple
steering at one end of their frail bark would not suffice, but that it
was necessary to steer, as it were, at both ends. Sometimes, in order
to avoid a stone, or a dangerous whirlpool, or a violent shoot, it
became necessary to turn the canoe almost on its centre, as on a pivot,
or at least within its own length; and in order to accomplish this, the
steersman had to dip his paddle as far out to one side as possible, to
draw the stern in that direction, while the bowman did the same on the
opposite side, and drew the bow the other way--thus causing the light
craft to spin round almost instantly. The two guiding men thus acted in
unison, and it was only by thoroughly understanding each other, in all
conceivable situations, that good and safe steering could be achieved.

The canoes which had been captured from the savages were frail barks in
the most literal sense of these words. They were made of the bark of
the birch-tree, a substance which, though tough, was very easily split
insomuch that a single touch upon a stone was sufficient to cause a bad
leak. Hence the utmost care was required in their navigation. But
although thus easily damaged they were also easily repaired, the
materials for reparation--or even, if necessary, reconstruction--being
always at hand in the forest.

Now although Heika and his brother were, as