68 A TRIP TO THE LA VAL. 
sliut out all other sounds. The chaloupe lay below us, 
its outline just defined upon the dark water, while we, 
seated upon a log, drank our tea and feasted right roy- 
ally upon fresh trout and other comforts that civilization 
had provided us. 
Truly incomprehensible are the Canadian people. One 
of the few inhabitants being without any eatable thing 
in the house, having scraped the flour barrel till he had 
scraped off splinters of wood, and, except for our arrival, 
without the prospect of a meal for the morrow, had 
soothed his sorrows by inviting his neighbors to a ball. 
Of course there was no supper ; but the music of one 
fiddle, and the merry spirits of the Canadian girls made 
up for the deficiency, and when we joined them, after 
our tea, they all seemed as happy as though stomachs 
never grew hungry or limbs tired. Being politely ofiered 
the belles, we joined the festivities, our potables adding 
to the merriment of the party, till, with the prospect 
of a hard day's work on the morrow, we thought best to 
retire to the dressino:-room and camp upon the floor for 
the night. Although the bed was hard, and onr rest 
somewhat disturbed by visions of beautiful creatures 
arranging their hair and dresses by the light of a tallow 
candle, before the looking-glass in our room, and at last 
donning their hats for a final departure, we slept toler- 
ably, and the early dawn saw us on our feet, preparing 
for our departure. 
While the men were carrying out our directions, in 
anticipation of a long absence from civilization, the 
attractions of the finny tribe were too seductive, and we, 
yielding to their enticements, again cast our lines in plea- 
