298 RIVER-ICE. 



entirely so, and, on first acquaintance, rather too rich 

 for digestion. 



When the ice had so much increased in the river 

 as to begin to crowd upon the shores, along which 

 ran a solid edge, we, who were unaccustomed to the 

 sight, had much interest in watching its course. The 

 current was very strong, and the sludge was turned 

 up between the moving and fixed edges, precisely as 

 a furrow is turned by the plough, while a kind of 

 hissing roar, continuous and subdued, proved the 

 resistance exerted. When the increasing di'ift re- 

 tarded the current, the water rose considerably, and a 

 second crust of ice formed on the shore ledges, and 

 deceived the unwary when venturing upon it, being 

 too weak to bear the feet, although snow-shoes, 

 which embrace a larger surface, will sometimes 

 enable one to pass on it. As these stations of the 

 Hudson's Bay Company are established for the sole 

 purpose of obtaining furs, — witness its motto, " Pro 

 pelle cutem," — no means to that end are neglected. 

 Mr. Mac Kenzie had tlu-ee or four traps set, which I 

 often used to visit, and will tell my fortune on one 

 of these occasions. Finding the trap had gone from 

 its place, I had little trouble in discovering the 

 direction of its migration ; the trail was too well 

 marked to permit of error, for frozen gouts of blood 



