THE " NOCE." 49 



Two guns are, therefore, out of the question in 

 both cases. The hunter and trapper lives by the 

 feathered game which he kills, rather than by the 

 larger animals, which are only occasionally met with ; 

 and although he may be a crack shot, he cannot kill 

 birds on the wing with a rifle, or two or three 

 at a time, as he must do if he would avoid star- 

 vation, and economise his ammunition. A good 

 smooth-bore shoots Avell enough, up to sixty or 

 eighty yards, for all practical purposes, and during 

 our experience we never met with an instance where 

 we could not approach within that distance of large 

 game. 



We left Fort Grarry on the 23rd of August, in the 

 highest spirits, feeling free as air, riding alongside our 

 train of carts, which carried all we possessed on the 

 continent. We had several spare horses, and these 

 trotted along after us as naturally as Rover. The 

 road followed the left bank of the Assiniboine pretty 

 closely, passing through level prairie land, with here 

 and there patches of Avoodland and a few houses. As 

 we passed one of these hamlets, Youdrie informed us 

 that a cousin of his — ^the cousins of a half-breed are 

 legion — ^had been married that morning, and invited 

 us to the wedding festivities, which were tten going 

 on at the house of the bride's father close by. As we 

 had some curiosity to see a "noce," we agreed, and 

 immediately camped, and walked to the house, where 

 we were duly introduced by Youdrie, and warmly 

 welcomed by the assembled company. 



After we had discussed some meat, cakes, pasties, 



E 



