shap, both he and Donald immediately joined the others in securing
their prey.

"It wass a grand haul, man, Tonald," said Dougall that night at supper.

"Oo ay, Shames. It was no that paad," replied Donald.

And, truly, it _was_ a grand haul; for, not only did we obtain enough of
every species of fish that swarmed in Lake Wichikagan, to provide a
right royal feast to ourselves and our red friends, but a good many were
left over and above to form the commencement of a store for the future.

By that time we had fairly commenced the fishery with a view to a winter
supply. The weather was still delicious, and had begun to grow cool at
nights, but as there was yet no frost, all the fish we took had to be
hung up by the tail, and thus partially dried. Afterwards, when the
frost fairly set in, this hanging process was dispensed with, for fish,
once frozen in those regions, remain perfectly fresh during the entire
winter, so that those eaten in spring are quite as good as those
consumed in autumn.

Lumley now set me to superintend the digging and constructing of an
ice-house, which should be ready to receive in spring the ice that would
be required to keep our provisions fresh during the following summer.
It consisted merely of a shallow square pit or hole in the ground, over
which a log hut was constructed. The pit we intended to floor with
solid cubes of ice measuring about a yard on each side. This lowest
foundation, in those northern ice-houses, never melts, but a fresh
stratum is laid above it which is cleared out and renewed every spring,
and it is amongst this that the meat or fish to be preserved is laid in
summer.

Another piece of work that Lumley gave me to superintend at this time
was the construction of a water-wheel and dam to drive our pit-saw. You
see, I had a turn for mechanics, and was under the impression that my
powers in that way were greater than they afterwards turned out to be.
We were sitting at tea alone in our hall at the time the subject was
mooted.

"Where have you sent the carpenter?" I asked, as I pushed in my
pannikin for more of the refreshing beverage.

I must interrupt the thread of my narrative here for a moment to say
that we took no crockery with us on that expedition. Our cups were tin
pannikins, our plates were made of tin; our pots and kettles were either
tin or copper. We had no sugar basins, or butter-dishes, or
table-cloths, or any of the other amenities of civilised