But the rippling murmur of water falls on our ears, and looking ahead we see the wavelets, eddies and bubbles that mark a swiftly flowing current. Bending to with a will, and at times using the paddle as a pole in very stiff water, we manage to work our way up higher.
And now another obstruction is met, a boom that completely closes the way, with no water passageway of any kind. And so, keeping inshore and balancing on one of the logs, while using one hand for support against the almost perpendicular bank, we pull the canoe over the boom, step in, and once more proceed on our way.
The lively kingfisher makes flights up the stream in advance of our progress, sweeping down at times with unerring eye to seize his prey from under the surface of the water, and then resting on some projecting tree branch he gives opportunity for admiring his comely appearance before our near presence warns him to renewed flight. Well up above the water, but skimming the trees and brushing the leaves as he flies, he keeps us company, and soon is joined by other merry fellows that make the way lively.
Here is a huge eagle with a wing-spread of five or six feet, at least. Seemingly unafraid, he drops almost alongside on the bank that runs down to a flat sand strip; and as he stands still as we pass, we can see the pure white of his head and tail, and notice his powerful wings as he again soars in the air.
Wild canaries, also, are quite numerous; and the canoe voyager on the Nashwaak has no lack of pleasant company.
Several pieces of swift water have been passed, and at one point where the river meets an island and has a steep descent and sharp bend of the channel, the rushing fall of water carries us nearly into the shore; and it takes both paddles to make any progress by “poling” or pushing on the bottom of the river.
Under the Dam—Nashwaak River