f
adventure, which words alone could not have sufficed to pourtray.

But to return from this long digression. I set about my preparations
without delay, and was soon ready with a small but very select amount of
baggage. You may be sure also that Lumley was active in his
preparations, and the result was that, on a fine afternoon in the early
spring, we--that is, Lumley, Macnab, Big Otter, and I--set out on our
expedition in a strong new boat which was manned by two Indians, two
Scotchmen, and a number of Canadian half-breeds--all picked men.

I must not however, drag my readers through the details of our arduous
voyage, not because those details are devoid of interest or romance, far
from it, but because I have other matters more interesting and romantic
to relate. I will, therefore, pass them over in silence, and at once
proceed to the remote region where our lot at that time was to be cast.

One beautiful evening we encamped on the margin of one of those
innumerable lakelets which gleam like diamonds on the breast of the
great wilderness, through which for many weeks we had been voyaging.
The vast solitudes into which we had penetrated, although nearly
destitute of human inhabitants, were by no means devoid of life, for
aquatic birds of varied form and voice made sweet music in the air, as
they swept over their grand domains on whirring wing, or chattered
happily in their rich feeding-grounds.

Those pleasant sounds were augmented by the axes of our men as they
busied themselves in cutting firewood, and preparing our encampment.

The spot chosen was a piece of level sward overhung by trees and
surrounded by bushes, except on the side next the little lake where an
opening permitted us to see the sheet of water gleaming like fire as the
sun sank behind the opposite trees. By that time we had traversed
hundreds of miles of wilderness, stemming many rivers and rivulets;
crossing or skirting hundreds of lakes which varied from two hundred
miles to two hundred yards in length; dragging our boat and carrying our
baggage over innumerable portages, and making our beds each night, in
fair weather and foul, under the trees of the primeval forest, until we
had at last plunged into regions almost unknown--where, probably, the
foot of a white man had never before rested. On the way we had passed
Muskrat House. There, with feelings of profound regret, we parted from
our genial Highlander, promising, however, to send him an