SURGICAL OPERATION ON A WOMAN. 187 



half the quantity, as some must be reserved for 

 the Slave Lake and Peace River brigades. His 

 instructions were positive, to keep our sixty bags 

 entire, except in case of actual starvation ; and he 

 had begun therefore to provide nets, to avoid 

 the necessity of trenching on them, when the op- 

 portune appearance of the chief factor removed 

 his disquietude, by clearing the store for him. 

 Mr. King at the same time bore grateful testi- 

 mony to the general courtesy and kindness 

 manifested by this gentleman. Certainly, to one 

 who is wandering for the first time in a strange 

 land, the meeting with a generous and warm- 

 hearted countryman is inexpressibly delightful. 

 It cheers and refreshes the traveller, carrying 

 back his thoughts to that dear land which claims 

 them both for its children. That Mr. King, 

 under the circumstances in which he found 

 himself, should feel even more than ordinary 

 gratitude was but natural. 



While at Chipewyan, Mr. King had performed 

 a successful operation on a woman's upper lip, 

 which was in a shocking state from cancer, 

 brought on, as he thought, from the inveterate 

 habit of smoking, so common among the half- 

 breeds. He had met with two or three cases 

 of it before ; one, at Fort William, was incurable, 

 and very loathsome. His presence was hailed 

 with delight at every post beyond Jack River, 



