ke of Two Mountains.) This was rather an unpleasant piece of
intelligence, and quite unexpected by my superiors or myself. I
despatched a messenger to head-quarters to give the alarm, and was
soon joined by a reinforcement of men conducted by a junior clerk and
an interpreter. Preparations were then made to follow up this new
competitor the moment he appeared. He did not allow us to remain long
in suspense. A few days afterwards his party was observed passing in
two canoes; our people were immediately in their wake, and I remained
with but one man and the old interpreter during the winter. I had only
two Indian hunters to attend to; one in the immediate vicinity of the
post, the other about three days' journey distant. Late in autumn I
was gratified by a visit from the superintendent of the district, who
expressed himself perfectly satisfied with my arrangements. As soon as
the river _set fast_ with ice, I resolved on paying a visit to my more
remote customer, and assumed the snow-shoes for the first time. I set
out with my _only_ man, leaving the old interpreter sole occupier of
the post. My man had visited the Indian on several occasions during
the previous winter, and told me that he usually halted at a
Chantier,[1] on the way to his lodge. We arrived late in the evening at
the locality in question, and finding a quantity of timber collected
on the ice, concluded that the _shanty_ must be close at hand. We
accordingly followed the lumber-track until we reached the hut which
had formerly afforded such comfortable accommodation to my companion.
Great was our disappointment, however, to find it now tenantless, and
almost buried in snow. I had made an extraordinary effort to reach the
spot in the hope of procuring good quarters for the night, and was now
so completely exhausted by fatigue that I could proceed no further.
The night was dark, and to make our situation as cheerless as
possible, it was discovered that my companion had left his
"fire-works" behind--a proof of his inexperience. Under these
circumstances our preparations were necessarily few. Having laid a few
boughs of pine upon the snow, we wrapped ourselves up in our blankets,
and lay down together. I passed the night without much rest; but my
attendant--a hardy Canadian--kept the wild beasts at bay by his deep
snoring, until dawn. I found myself completely benumbed with cold; a
smart walk, however, soon put the blood in circulation, and ere long
we entered a