CRUISE OF LA BELLE MARGUERITE 



It was here in the little harbour of the Crow 

 that Mathias, he of the brass bracelet to keep 

 off rheumatism and salt-water sores, cried out 

 " Les Sauvages! " and here I made my first 

 visit on these interesting people. 



Again we bore away, and this time for Pi- 

 ashte-bai Bay, at whose mouth we visited a soli- 

 tary Indian wigwam, and spent part of two 

 days with a fur-trader, visiting his house, as- 

 cending the river to the falls and gathering 

 much interesting information. 



While we were on the shore we met one of the 

 inhabitants returning from his traps with a 

 large beaver on his back, and, on our return to 

 " La Belle," we found that the men had shot 

 another as it was swimming across the harbour. 

 They are interesting beasts, these beaver, from 

 many points of view, historical and otherwise, 

 and that night I learned some new facts. With 

 great care Mathias prepared the tit-bit, the 

 tail, for supper. First he roasted it slightly over 

 the embers, so that the black, scaly skin could 

 be easily scraped off; then with an axe he cut 

 up the white meat into little cubes, and boiled it 

 in a sauce-pan. It tasted something like pigs' 

 feet, and although good eating, was not as 



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