uild a log-hut. Being young backwoodsmen this was but a trifle
to them. All four of them knew how to handle an axe with dexterity. The
logs were soon cut and notched, and a small cabin was put up, and roofed
with split clap-boards. With the stones that lay near the shore of the
lake they built a chimney. It was but a rude structure, but it drew
admirably. Clay was wanted to "chink" the cabin, but that could not be
had, as the ground was hard frozen, and it was quite impossible to make
either clay or mud.

Even hot water poured out would freeze into ice in a few minutes. This
was a serious want--for in such a cold climate even the smallest hole in
the walls will keep a house uncomfortable, and to fill the interstices
between the logs, so as to make them air-tight, some soft substance was
necessary. Grass was suggested, and Lucien went off in search of it.
After awhile he returned with an armful of half-withered grass, which
all agreed would be the very thing; and a large quantity was soon
collected, as it grew plentifully at a short distance from the cabin.

They now set to work to stuff it into the chinks; when, to their
astonishment, they found that this grass had a beautiful smell, quite as
powerful and as pleasant as that of mint or thyme! When a small quantity
of it was flung into the fire it filled the cabin with a fragrance as
agreeable as the costliest perfumes. It was the "scented grass," which
grows in great profusion in many parts of the Hudson's Bay territory,
and out of which the Indians often make their beds, burning it also upon
the fire to enjoy its aromatic perfume.

For the first day or two, at their new abode, the travellers had lived
altogether on fish. They had, of course, brought their net with them
from the island, and had set it near the shore in the same way as
before. They had captured as many as they wanted, and, strange to say,
at one haul they found no less than five different species in the net!
One kind, a white fish, the _Coregonus albus_ of naturalists, but which
is named "tittameg" by the fur-traders, they caught in great plenty.
This fish is found in nearly all the lakes and rivers of the Hudson's
Bay territory, and is much prized both by whites and Indians for its
delicate flavour. At some of the trading posts it often forms, for weeks
together, the only food which the residents can obtain; and they are
quite satisfied when they can get enough of it. The tittameg is not a
large fish;