About noon
None of them felt like trying to wade up the rapid again , and so they carried the canoe round it . At the head of the portage they cut several strong poles to use in places where they could not paddle . They soon found that without the poles they could hardly have made any progress at all ; and even with them they moved very slowly . About noon they landed , broiled and ate a small piece of venison , and after a brief rest set out on their journey again . By five o'clock they were all dead tired , wet , and chilled , and Mac and Fred were ready to stop . Horace , however , urged them to push on . He felt that perhaps the beaver trappers were not many miles behind .