They were now at the foot of the lesser fall, diyi-
ded from the principal one by a small island. The
canoe was taken from the water and carefully c(»i-
cealed among the bushes, and then each one of the
Indians proceeded to the brink of the overhanging
rocks, and in silence made his offering to the Dei-
ty, by casting into the foaming waters some trifle,
such as an arrow, a bow, or a paddle. The offer-
ing of the chief was a belt of wampum^ and never
had the Frenchman been inspired 'with such awe,
amidst the imposing forms of his own religion in
the splendid temples of his own land, as by this
simple rite of a simple race. Let not the austere
votary of laboured creeds smile — it was the wor-
ship of nature, taught by the God of the wilder-
ness and preferable to his.
OR LAYS Of TBB MRC8T. 167

Theparty then resumed all their caatioDi and,strik-
iDg into the wood on the right, proceeded^ at a short
distance from the edge of the shelving hank which
runs parallel with the foot of the two falls, towards
the pricipal fall. The ohject of the party was con-
cealment, as the Indians, in their descent, would
pass the Shawenagam about th^t time in the day,

providing they left their usual place of bivouac ear-
ly in the morning, and one of' the party had been

leil concealed on the point, whose eye commanded
the portage and the whole circle of the bay.
