y which his Creator points
out, is God's noblest work; but man, left to the freedom of his own
fallen will, sinks morally lower than the beasts that perish. Well may
every Christian wish and pray that the name and the gospel of the
blessed Jesus may be sent speedily to the dark places of the earth; for
you may read of, and talk about, but you _cannot conceive_ the fiendish
wickedness and cruelty which causes tearless eyes to glare, and maddened
hearts to burst, in the lands of the heathen.

While we are on this subject let us add (and our young readers will come
to know it if they are spared to see many years) that _civilisation_
alone will never improve the heart. Let history speak and it will tell
you that deeds of darkest hue have been perpetrated in so-called
civilised, though pagan lands. Civilisation is like the polish that
beautifies inferior furniture, which water will wash off if it be but
_hot enough_. Christianity resembles dye, which permeates every fibre
of the fabric, and which nothing can eradicate.

The success of the trappers in procuring beaver here was great. In all
sorts of creeks and rivers they were found. One day they came to one of
the curious rivers before mentioned, which burst suddenly out of a
plain, flowed on for several miles, and then disappeared into the earth
as suddenly as it had risen. Even in this strange place beaver were
seen, so the traps were set, and a hundred and fifty were caught at the
first lift.

The manner in which the party proceeded was as follows: They marched in
a mass in groups or in a long line, according to the nature of the
ground over which they travelled. The hunters of the party went forward
a mile or two in advance, and scattered through the woods. After them
came the advance-guard, being the bravest and most stalwart of the men
mounted on their best steeds, and with rifle in hand; immediately behind
followed the women and children, also mounted, and the pack-horses with
the goods and camp equipage. Another band of trappers formed the
rear-guard to this imposing cavalcade. There was no strict regimental
order kept, but the people soon came to adopt the arrangements that were
most convenient for all parties, and at length fell naturally into their
places in the line of march.

Joe Blunt usually was the foremost and always the most successful of the
hunters. He was therefore seldom seen on the march except at the hour
of starting, and at night when