EDMONTON TO LESSER SLAVE LAKE 35
men on board keeping the boats clsar of Ht, and, on a fair
path, wth good seater, mske very gow) time. Indeed, ihe
pall seems fo give an impetus te the crackers. a4 well ae te
the host, so thal « loose wan has to lope to keep up sith
them, But on. bad paths and bad water the apeed ia sadly
pulled down, and, Hf repida oevur, sinks ts the aero of a
few miles a dey. The * spall” vary acnording ts these aie
euruetances, but half an hour is the ordinary prdl hebyeen
“pipes,” and there feing no shifis in our case, the stoppages
for rest sl iobacco were frequent. Ab this rate we xl
eulated thet No would take eight or ion days to reach the
mouth af Lesser Slave River. Mer. d’Eachambault and my-
self, having experienced ihe svewded aiate of the Urst and
sncond boats, and feregathered daring the trip, decided fe
take ep our quarters war the scow, which bad co evening, bat
whisk offered seme elbow vos and a tolerable cozy nook
aucnge tle cases, bales and bagenge with whieh i was
encumbered.

We kad a shady on board, as well, in ome steerersar,
Fierr: Gyr, which pertly altracied me—sz brouzed man,
with Jong, thin, yet Sue weathermbeaten features, frosty
moustzehe and keenly-gasing, dey, xray eyes-~n tall, sla
ead sinewy yaar, aver seventy years of age, yeb agile and fix
of stop as a man of thirty. Add the sembstlent, inward
sugh which Cooper aseribes lo ble LeatherStuchiag, sad
Fou heave Pleree Cys, who might have stead for that immer
tal’s portrait, That he bad » histery I felt sere when f
Srst saw hbe svated amongst Ma boatmen at the Landing,
and, an. seeking his acquaintance, was not aurpriaed to leans
thas be had accoxupanted Sty John Richardson ox bis Isat
jouney in Prince Hupert’s Land, and De. Hae on his
eventinl expedition to Repulse Bay, ia 1858, in search of
¥ranklin. He looked as if he ambi do bt agein-——s sigerons,
alexi man, ready west able io Rack ar pola with the best-—a
survivor, in fret, of the old race af Red River veyageurs,
whee revard ip ane of the romances of history,