Running out of the bay, they headed towards the north. After struggling against wind and waves for half or three-quarters of a mile, going part of the time among little rock islets and passing the mouths of several small bays, the voyageurs reached, as the Indian had foretold, the stretch of water the boys had come out upon. It was partly protected from the wind, and they crossed without difficulty. They could see that the strait extended for several miles at least on either hand, and was bounded by what appeared to be continuous land on both sides, but they could not tell positively whether the shores ran together in the distance or whether there was an opening between them.
The gold-seekers landed on low ground near the mouth of a small stream, concealed the canoe among the bushes and started inland. At first they kept to the main direction of the stream, though they did not always follow it closely, as it made several bends and turns and in some places its banks were so overgrown that the explorers would have had to cut a way through. The conditions along the brook seemed to be continually changing. It made its way through thick forest of spruce, birch and white cedar, among thickets of alder, dogwood and mountain maple, where the leaves were turning yellow and red and beginning to fall, it rippled and foamed over rocks through narrow gullies between steep ridges, slipped quietly along among aspens and birches, and crept sluggishly through bogs covered with spongy moss, pitcher plants, labrador tea and other bog growths. When the stream made a bend to the southwest, the explorers parted company with it, and struck off to the northwest.
Their way lay over a succession of ridges, but they were reaching higher and higher ground. Most of the time they traveled through more or less open woods, but sometimes over steep stretches of bare, rocky hillside. The forest was principally evergreen, and there was one tract of towering white pines, some of them with trunks three or four feet in diameter. As the rise became steeper, the bare rock slopes more frequent, the three, feeling that they must be near the summit of the highest ridge, pressed forward eagerly. Even the Indian increased the speed of his springy, tireless stride, so that the boys, strong and active though they were, had hard work keeping up with him. He was the first to climb the final steep slope. The lads could see him standing motionless gazing towards the west and north. Jean, whose lighter weight gave him an advantage over Ronald in climbing, scrambled up next, and uttered a sharp exclamation. Sky and air had cleared while the explorers were making their way through the woods, and he could see far over the water.
There, faint and blue, was the Cape of Thunder, the Sleeping Giant, the rock figure of the manito Nanabozho. The view was not quite the same as the one from the island where they had been wind-bound so long, but the outlines were unmistakable. It was not the Giant alone that was visible in the distance. Farther to the north were misty headlands barely discernible, while to the south of the Cape was another blue outline. As Jean was straining his eyes to make out every bit of land visible, Ronald joined him. Jean turned to his companion excitedly.
“See,” he said, pointing first to the blue shape farthest to the south, then to the others, “the Isle de Paté] the Pointe au Tonnerre, and away to the north the headlands of the great bay beyond. Now we know where we are indeed.”
“On Minong,” said Nangotook conclusively. “Grande Portage over there,” and he pointed to the west. No shore line was visible, but the boys knew from the positions of Pic Island, as it is now called in translation of the French name, and Thunder Cape, that the Portage must be somewhere in that direction.
“Yes,” agreed Ronald, “we’re not on the shore, that is certain, and this is no small island. We must have come fifteen or twenty miles along its shore, and we’ve not crossed half-way.” He pointed to the land that lay below them, thick woods and stripes and spots of gleaming water, stretching for several miles, and beyond that land the open lake. “We’re surely on Minong or Philippeau.”
“Minong,” insisted the Indian positively. “I have been on this island before, but it was from the direction of the setting sun we came, not from the rising sun.”
“You landed on the west side then?” asked Jean. “That is why you did not recognize the place this time?”
“Thought it was Minong all the time,” replied Nangotook, “not sure. Sure now.”