party, with the professor as principal spokesman, were assembled
after the evening meal, and details were given of experiences in hunting
and other activities. The professor's journeying had not been confined
to the South Seas, and having mentioned the then scarcely known great
country in the Canadian Rockies, he was asked to tell about his
adventures there.

"It's a far cry from here to Saskatchewan, but I recall," said the
professor, "a trip that I made a good many years ago, when I first went
out to deal with the fur traders.

"At the time I speak of our brigade of four boats lay moored on the
banks of the great Saskatchewan, which river, you know, takes its rise
amid the rugged steps of the Rocky Mountains, flows through the great
prairies and woodlands of the interior of Rupert's Land, and discharges
into Lake Winnipeg.

"On this morning the men were ashore at breakfast. On a low gravelly
point that jutted out into the stream smoked three large fires, over
which stood three rudely constructed tripods, from which depended three
enormous tin kettles. Robbiboo was the delectable substance contained in
these kettles. Pemmican is a compound of dried buffalo meat, melted fat,
and hair--the latter being an accidental ingredient. Mix pemmican with
flour and water, boil and stir till it thickens, and the result will be
'robbiboo.'

"Around these kettles stood, and sat, and reclined, and smoked, about
thirty of the wildest and heartiest fellows that ever trod the
wilderness. Most of them were French Canadians; many were half-breeds;
some were Orkney-men; and one or two were the copper-colored natives of
the soil. But Canadians, Scotch, and savages they were all employed by
the Hudson's Bay Fur Company; they were all burned to the same degree of
brownness by the summer sun; they all laughed and talked, and ate
robbiboo more or less--generally more; and they were all clad in the
dress of the northwest _voyageur_. A loose-fitting capote, with a hood
hanging down the back; a broad scarlet or parti-colored worsted sash
round the waist; a pair of cloth leggings, sometimes blue, sometimes
scarlet, occasionally ornamented with bright silk or bead work, and
gartered at the knees a pair of chamois leather-like moccasins made of
deer skin; a round bonnet or a red nightcap, or a nondescript hat, or
nothing.

"'Ho! ho!' shouted the gruff voice of the guide, as the men, having
emptied the kettles, were hastily filling and lighting t