A WINTER WITH THE LUMBERERS 179 



required, it is made opposite the entrance to the hovel ; 

 but the men depend for warmth mostly on lying close 

 together, literally heaped in a mass under blankets 

 and rugs. 



At such hovels we spent the third and fourth nights, 

 obtaining food and shelter ; the men in each case being 

 under Mr. Finnock's direction. We then had the worst 

 stage of the journey to perform, an unbroken spell of 

 twenty miles, to be covered in a short winter's day, with 

 the certainty that we should meet nobody in the whole 

 distance. We this day had to cross a range of hills of 

 several hundred feet in height, the path being of the 

 most rugged and trying description. We sometimes 

 had to climb almost precipitous ascents, and long before 

 the day was half over my knees were trembling under 

 me. Finnock, sturdy Scot as he was, I could see was 

 considerably distressed, though he would not admit it. 

 It will be noticed that we had no guide, the river on our 

 left hand serving the purpose of a directing line. We 

 often lost sight of it, even for the greater part of the day ; 

 but the downward dip of the land was sufficient indication 

 of its trend. It was impossible to keep very near it on 

 account of the rocky and broken nature of the banks. 



As we advanced the forest tracts became more and 

 more frequent and extensive, intermingled with bare and 

 forbidding-looking rocks. Some of the hills must, I 

 think, have been quite two thousand feet above the level 

 of the gulf. We passed close to a great bear this day, 

 the first big game we had seen. I wished to shoot it, 

 a proposal which greatly alarmed Finnock, who would 

 not hear of its being interfered with. " Eh, mon ! they're 

 vary uncanny beasts when their bristles are up." I was 

 vexed, as the skin would have been most useful in 

 present circumstances. I soon found that Finnock was 

 no sportsman ; but his refusal to interfere with dangerous 

 animals was probably due to excessive caution, as he was 

 plucky enough on occasion. 



