196 TRAVELLING CONVIVIALITIES. 



continuous trot, requiring very little attention. At such 

 times the usual watchfulness is relaxed, the sledges 

 are allowed to run side by side, or the riders seat 

 themselves sideways on their carriages, and converse 

 agreeably, or eat a bit of lunch together, combining 

 their stores, on our part a few pieces of biscuit, and, 

 as a great favour, a wee taste of ay-ke-misch, on the 

 other side a store of pemmican, or dried fish, 

 pounded fine, which is by no means a disagreeable 

 condiment, having much the flavour of caviare. 



A present of homceopathic quantities of sugar 

 and leaf tobacco to my companion would now put 

 him in possession of a hi-loop, and an immense fund 

 of good-humour : a fumigation on my part made 

 me equally content ; thus we jogged along tran- 

 quilly at peace with the world and each other. 

 Sometimes we struck up a song, alternately or 

 together, Belkonta, who acted as my guide on 

 this excursion, and was very intelligent, quickly 

 following lead, and endeavouring, with some success, 

 to repeat the words ; but of all sounds, and I tried 

 all I knew for experiment, none suited him so well 

 as German, which he repeated after me with much 

 facility, and learned several words of a favourite song 

 of mine. At this season " mirage " displays its 

 wonders of distortion to a great extent, it produces 



