The Lure of the Labrador Wild

ng in all about two miles and a half. All of us were overcome by the hard work in the burning sun and the poisonous bites of the flies. I was the most susceptible to the attacks of the fl

o ninety-two. Hubbard was attacked with diarrhoea, and I with vomiting. We were all too exhausted to eat when we st

rge marking the spot with a circle of stakes. That left us 120 rounds of .45-70's and 500 rounds of .22's

s on the trip. Together with a yellowlegs George had shot, it seasoned a pot of pea soup. We camped t

fe we never were without. In our pockets we placed a half-pound package of pea meal. George started westward up the river, and I put for a high, barren bill two miles to the north. As I climbed the hill I heard gulls on the other side, which told me water lay

the swamp along the shore. A splash in the water startled me, and soon I found the fresh tracks of a caribou. As he had winded me, I knew it was useless to try to follow him. Pressing my way on to the northeast, I came upon another small lake and several smal

g, however, to my ability to find my course without it, I made my way on past two more lakes. A grouse fluttered up before me, and I brought it down with a pistol shot. After tying it to my belt, I decided it was time to turn back home, as we called our

es, and slept soundly. At dawn I arose, built a fire, repaired my compass, and ate a cup of porridge. I was not frightened, because with my compass again in working order I knew I should have no difficulty in finding the river, which

les below our last camp. Down to the shore of the river I hurried, and built a fire for luncheon. The partridge at my belt had been torn into shreds by the b

tive compasses, and as he now appeared to have the better of it, he took advantage of the occasi

ou haven't been lost yet, because you haven't been out of sight of

s we started. Each of us carried a load some four miles up the valley and returned; and then Hubbard, with a second load, went ahead to make camp, while George and I, with the remainder of the baggage, endeavo

each other. Falling down constantly and struggling to our feet again, we stumbled on through the pitchy blackness and down-pouring rain, until suddenly we discerned the glowing light of our campfire

for supper we had twenty-two trout that Hubbard caught in the morning, served with apple sauce and hot bread. This high liv

ght. But with the coming of evening the clouds were driven away before the wind, affording us an occasional glimpse of the new moon hanging low in the heavens; and this, together with the sound of the river and the roaring cam

bbard gave expression to a strange feeling that had been growing on him and me in the last few days. It was almost as if the solitude were getting on our

er from day to day, that we are the only people left in

ust forever be alone, going on, and on, and on, from

ways have been and always will be; and your past life is like a dream, and your frie

cloud of tobacco smoke to join the smoke of th

of Rupert's House [the Hudson's Bay Company Post on James Bay where he was born], and what the fellus I kno

r friend, the English-Indian, and our "feelings" must

d wardrobe was not reassuring. Our bacon and sugar were going fast. Fish had become an absolute necessity, and our catches had been alarmingly small. There was also a lamentable lack of game. Far below we had heard the chatter of the last red squirrel, and seen the last bear signs and the last tree barked by porcupines. There were caribou trails a-plenty, but seldom

re very sore. Two of his toe nails came off on Wednesday night, and a wide crack, which must have made walking very painful, appeared in one of his heels. The nearest thing we

to divide into two branches. We found that the southerly branch came over a low fall from the west, while the other, or northerly branch, fl

found a blaze crossing the stream from north to south, which he pronounced a winter blaze made by trappers, as the cuttings were high up on the trees and freshly made. Half a mile above the blaze George came upon the rotten poles of an old Indian wigwam, an

st River Post and had covered only eighty miles. Hubbard had been ill, and I had been ill. Always, as we pressed onward, I dreaded the prospect of retracin