spring, where the party
had originally encamped. A square was traced on the ground to indicate
the stockade; and within this, Stanley marked off an oblong patch, close
to the back stockade, for the principal dwelling-house, facing the
river. Two other spaces were on either side of this--one for a store,
the other for a dwelling for the men. When finished, the fort would
thus have the form of three sides of a square surrounded by a stockade.
In the centre of this, and the first thing that was erected, was a
flag-staff, on which the H.B.C.--Hudson's Bay Company--flag was hoisted,
and saluted with three cheers as its crimson folds fluttered out in the
breeze for the first time. The plan on which the houses were
constructed was that on which all the dwellings of the fur-traders are
built--namely, a framework of timber, the interstices of which are
filled up with logs sliding into grooves cut in the main posts and
beams. This manner of building is so simple that a house can be erected
without any other instruments than an axe, an auger, and a large chisel;
and the speed with which it is put up would surprise those whose notions
of house-building are limited to stone edifices.

The axes of the wood-cutters resounded among the gullies and ravines of
Ungava, and awakened the numerous echoes of the mountains. The
encampment no longer presented a green spot, watered by a tiny rill, but
was strewn with logs in all stages of formation, and chips innumerable.
The frameworks of the dwelling-houses began to rise from the earth,
presenting, in their unfinished condition, a bristling, uncomfortable
appearance, suggesting thoughts in the beholder's mind highly
disparaging to art, and deeply sympathetic with outraged nature. The
tents still stood, and the campfire burned, but the superior proportions
of the rising fort threw these entirely into the shade. A rude wharf of
unbarked logs ran from the beach into the river. It had been begun and
finished in a couple of days, for the convenience of Gaspard while
visiting his nets, as he sometimes did before the water left them.
Everything, in short, bore evidence of the most bustling activity and
persevering energy; and in a few weeks from the time of their first
landing, the dwelling-houses were sufficiently weather-tight to be
habitable, and the other portions of the establishment in an advanced
condition.

The openings between the logs of the houses were caulked with a mixture
of