THE UPPER RIVER* 61B
vesters any more; tftey've gone where the woodbine twiuefeh—-*o*d
they didn't go by steamboat, either; went by the train/
Up in this region we met massed acres of lumber rafts coming
down—but not floating leisurely along, in the old-fashioned way,
manned with joyous and reckless crews of fiddling, song-singing,
whiskey-drinking, breakdown-dancing rapscallions ; no, the whole
thing was shoved swifUy along by a powerful stern-wheeler, modem
fashion, and the small crews w*sre quiet, orderly men, of a sedate
business aspect, with not a suggestion of romance about them any.
where.
Along here, somewhere, on a black night, we ran some exceed-
ingly narrow and intricate island-chutes by aid of the electric light.
Behind was solid blackness—a crackless bank of it; ahead, a narrow
elbow of water, curving between dense walls of foliage that almost
touched our bows on both sides; and here every individual leaf, and
every individual ripple stood out in its natural colour, and flooded
with a glare as of noonday intensified. The effect was strange, and
fine, and very striking*
We passed Prairie du Ghien, another of Father Marqnefcte'scamping-
places; and after some hours of progress through varied and beautiful
scenery, reached La Orosse, Here is a town of twelve or thirteen
thousand population, with electric lighted streetr, and with blocks of
buildings which are stately enough, and also architecturally fine
enough, to command respect in any city. It is a choice town, and w«
made satisfactory use of the hour allowed us, in roaming &
though the weather was rainier than necessary.