32 A SPORTSMAN'S EDEN. 



with Nature in her very wildest moods looks 

 wonderfully noble and attractive. I would my- 

 self much rather be a slave and have someone 

 to look after my comforts and be responsible for 

 my daily bread ; but for anyone who loves 

 absolute freedom and is strong enough to survive 

 in such a state, earning all he wants by his own 

 unaided exertions, this pioneer life in America 

 must be perfect. I don't wonder at the pioneers 

 holding their heads high ; at their little boys, 

 hardly old enough to play marbles, carrying six- 

 shooters and talking like men ; for though you are 

 not making a fortune, it is something to feel that 

 the house you live in, you built ; if it wants re- 

 pairing, you or the boys must repair it (no 

 plumbers or carpenters to send for here) ; the 

 fields you till, you reclaimed ; the bread you eat, 

 you grew ; and that though from your doorway 

 to the sky-line there is no neighbour's house, 

 though the prairie stretches like a vast un- 

 tenanted ocean round your tiny cottage, you are 

 in yourself strong enough to live there, unaided, 

 self-supporting, ' boss of your own show,' as they 

 quaintly phrase it. 



On leaving Ottawa the C. P. R. has at first 

 to force its way through a land of dense forests 

 and lakes. Inside the Pullman car all is luxury ; 

 outside is Nature in her most rugged mood. The 



