uality. Five bags of it were put up, each weighing over thirty
pounds. One of these was to be drawn upon the sledge, along with the
tent, the axe, and a few other articles. The rest were to be carried by
the voyageurs themselves--each shouldering one, which, along with their
guns and accoutrements, would be load enough.

These arrangements being at length complete, the party bid adieu to
their log-hut--gave a parting look to their little canoe, which still
rested by the door--and then, shouldering their guns and bags of
pemmican, set out over the frozen surface of the snow.

Of course before starting they had decided upon the route they were to
take. This decision, however, had not been arrived at until after much
discussion. Lucien advised that they should follow the shore of the lake
until they should reach the Mackenzie River--which of course was now
frozen up. Its channel, he argued, would then guide them; and, in case
their provisions should run short, they would be more likely to find
game upon its banks than elsewhere, as these were wooded almost to the
sea--in consequence of its head-waters rising in southern latitudes, and
carrying with them a warmer climate.

There was plausibility in Lucien's argument, combined with much
prudence. Norman, however, advised a contrary course. He said that they
would have to make a considerable journey westward before reaching the
place where the Mackenzie River flows out of the lake; and, moreover, he
knew that the river itself was very crooked--in some places winding
about in great curves, whose ends come near meeting each other. Should
they keep the course of the river, Norman believed it would almost
double their journey. A much shorter route, he said, would be obtained
by striking across the country in a north-westerly direction, so as to
reach the Mackenzie near where another great stream--the River of the
Mountains--empties into it from the west. This would certainly be a more
direct route, and they would avoid the windings of the river channel.

Norman's reasoning prevailed. Basil and Francois readily agreed to his
plan, and Lucien at length also gave his assent, but with some
reluctance. Norman knew nothing whatever of the route he was advising
them to take. His former journeys up and down the Mackenzie had been
made in summer, and of course he had travelled by canoe, in company with
the traders and voyageurs. He only knew that to strike across the
country would be t