PLEASURE AFTER PAIN.

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no brandy, spirits, nor wine, neither had I tea, or coffee—nothing but water to drink. I had no Harvey's sauce, or catsup, or butter, or bread, or potatoes, or any other vegetable. I had nothing but fish; no variety, save that some were broiled on the hot coals and some were boiled. But I had been suffering for days from intense cold, and I now had rest; I had been starving, and I now had food; I had been weary and in pain, without rest or relief, and I now had both rest and ease. But, to sum up all, I had come through a long and serious peril, where for days I had been haunted with the idea that I must camp alone in that solitary forest, and let the men go on, with no food to support me but what I might obtain by the chance snaring of rabbits. It was, in fact, the dread of this almost hopeless alternative, that urged me to exertions upon which I cannot look back except with wonder, and thus brought me at last to the safety and comfort in which I now luxuriated. How many fish the men ate, I do not know; but having satiated themselves, they all lay down to sleep. In the middle of the night they woke me up, to ask me if I would not join them in another feast, but I did not; much to their astonishment, as the woman had

told them that she was afraid I was sick, as I only ate four fish out of the seven she had prepared for me. However, in the morning, about five o'clock, I commenced again, and made another hearty meal; and then how happy I was when I lay down and slept again, instead of clambering over the rugged bourdigneaux !

An easy Time.- Clever Rabbit-snare. — Fort Edmonton.

the Credit of the Herd. — Harnessing the Dogs. — My Big Head. — Sober Mirth. Christmas-day in the Wilds. Our Fare. The Feast and the Dance.—" One that looks at the Stars."-Fighting to the Death. — The better part of Valour. — Making a Calf. — An affectionate Bull. The Aurora Borealis.

Nov. 30th and Dec. 1st. I REMAINED at Fort Assiniboine to allow my feet to recover, which they did rapidly, as I did little but sleep before the fire and eat fish. On the evening of the 1st we all felt so well, that we prepared to proceed next morning to Edmonton, which we calculated to reach easily in four days.

Dec. 2nd. We started early in the morning on snow-shoes, taking with us very little provisions, as we were assured that we should find plenty of rabbits on the road. Our route lay through the woods, which were very thick and encumbered with fallen trees: this rendered our progress slow

and very fatiguing; but our renewed strength, and the certainty of a good supper when we stopped kept up our spirits and enabled us to make a very good day's journey. When we encamped for the night, we set to work cooking the rabbits which we had killed on the way, of which we had more than enough. The whole evening they were running across our path. This year they were much more numerous than had been remembered for a long time previously, and the woods were filled with traps set by the Indians, from which we might have helped ourselves if we pleased; but this would not have been considered right as long as we had our guns to shoot them. These snares are fastened to the top of young saplings in such a manner as to spring up when the rabbit is caught, and so suspend him in the air; if this was not done, the wolves and the lynxes, who always follow the rabbits in great numbers, and whose tracks we perceived all round us, would eat them as fast as they were caught.

The lynx is caught by a slip noose made of sinew, simply fastened to a small movable log, which the ensnared animal can drag with difficulty after him. Strange to say, they never attempt to gnaw the string which holds them,

although, from the shape of their teeth, they evidently could do so with the greatest ease.

Dec. 3rd, 4th, and 5th. Our route was mostly through woods, but the weather was pleasant, and we had abundance of rabbits, so that the journey seemed like a mere pleasure trip in comparison with what we had gone through.

On the evening of the 5th we arrived at Fort Edmonton, where I was most kindly received by Mr. Harriett, and provided with a comfortable room to myself-a luxury I had not known for many months. This was to be my head-quarters for the winter; and certainly no place in the interior is at all equal to it, either in comfort or interest. All the Company's servants, with their wives and children, numbering about 130, live within the palings of the fort in comfortable loghouses, supplied with abundance of fire-wood.

Along the banks of the river in the vicinity of the fort, about twenty feet below the upper surface, beds of hard coal are seen protruding, which is, however, not much used, except in the blacksmith's forge, for which purpose it seems to be admirably adapted. The want of proper grates or furnaces in those distant regions, where iron is at present so scarce, prevents its general use as fuel.