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6 TRAVELS
We had the good fortune to meet here four of the moft expe-
rienced boatmen we had feen in the whole courfe of our travels.
There was one of them called Simon, whom we named by way
of eminence, the Bonaparte of the Cataracts. It it impoffible for
me to give the reader an idea of the excellence of his tactics, his
courage, his addrefs, the juftnefs of his eye in judging from the
furface of the water the nature of the bottom, and in afcertain-
ing, with the moft fcrupulous precifion, the depth of the river.
Had it not been for the refolution and fteadinefs of this man, our
expedition muft have ended at Kollare ; for the obftacles to be
encountered between this place and Muonionifca are fo ferioufly
difcouraging to common boatmen, that they would have refufed
to a man to condué us any farther.
The paflage from Kollare to Muonionifca is a diftance of fixty-
fix miles, entirely upon the river Muonio, and conftantly in oppo-
fition to cataracts and the current. The fortitude and perfeve-
rance with which thofe people bore this long and extraordinary
labour, fhew the aftonifhing power of habit. Where the river
was too ftrong and violent for our boats, which owing to the
weight they carried drew too much water, to make good their
paflage, we were forced to difembark and haul our empty boats
along the river. The Finlanders who were employed in dragging
the boat, kept on the bank, leaping from ftone to {tone, and fome-
times went up to the middle in water to difengage the rope from
the rocks, where it had become entangled. Sometimes the boats
themfelves were obftructed in their paffage by the rocks, in which
cafe
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