osophy ended the conversation.

The whole day was passed in this Northern Arcadia, as the doctor named
the valley, with the consent of his companions; and that evening,
after a supper which had not cost the life of a single inhabitant of
the country, the three hunters went to sleep in a cleft of a rock
which was admirably adapted for a shelter.

CHAPTER XVII.
ALTAMONT'S REVENGE.

The next day the doctor and his two companions woke up after a
perfectly quiet night. The cold, although not keen, increased towards
daybreak, but they were well covered, and slept soundly under the
watch of the peaceful animals.

The weather being pleasant, they resolved to consecrate the day to a
reconnaissance of the country, and the search of musk-oxen. Altamont
insisted on shooting something, and they decided that, even if these
oxen should be the gentlest animals in the world, they should be shot.
Besides, their flesh, although strongly flavored with musk, was
pleasant eating, and they all hoped to carry back to Fort Providence a
good supply of it.

During the early morning hours nothing noteworthy took place; the land
grew different in the northeast; a few elevations, the beginning of a
mountainous district, indicated a change. If this New America were not
a continent, it was at any rate an important island; but then they did
not have to trouble themselves about its geography.

Duke ran ahead, and soon came across some traces of a herd of
musk-oxen; he then advanced rapidly, and soon disappeared from the
eyes of the hunters. They followed his clear barking, which soon grew
so hasty that they knew he had discovered the object of their search.
They pushed on, and in an hour and a half they came up to two of these
animals; they were large, and formidable in appearance. They appeared
much surprised at Duke's attacks, but not alarmed; they were feeding
off a sort of reddish moss which grew on the thin soil. The doctor
recognized them at once from their moderate height, their horns, which
were broad at the base, the absence of muzzle, their sheep-like
forehead, and short tail; their shape has earned for them from
naturalists the name of "ovibos," a compound, and which expresses the
two sorts of animals whose characteristics they share. Thick, long
hair and a sort of delicate brown silk formed their fur.

[Illustration]

They ran away when they saw the two hunters, who came running up after
them. It was hard to reach them for