A WINTER WITH THE LUMBERERS 181 



ous in the neighbourhood ; and, hungry as I was, I 

 thought the meat delicious. 



It was a week before Finnock could get about, his 

 ankle being much swelled. The men lived in the usual 

 miserable huts, but there was an erection of a rathbr 

 better kind for the boss. As it was not equal to my 

 idea of a comfortable lodging, however, I proceeded to 

 build a hut of my own, I being, as the result of past 

 experience, pretty expert at this kind of work. More- 

 over, I was soon on chummy terms with several of the 

 men, who willingly lent me a hand ; so in a few days I 

 had a very comfortable hut, in which I could at least 

 stand upright, with a raised bed-place in one corner. 



There were twenty men in this camp, the majority, in 

 about equal numbers, being Scotch and French Canadians. 

 There was one Irishman, " Mike " O'Neill ; one English- 

 man, two Yankee deserters from their ships, and a Nor- 

 wegian. There was also a "John Chinaman" to cook 

 for the gentlemen, and do their washing, and who was of 

 a perpetual mud colour from the effects of the cold ; and 

 whose life, I am afraid, was rendered wretched by the 

 tricks the " gentlemen " played with his tail. There 

 were likewise three Indian women, squaws to some of 

 the lumberers. 



On our first arrival there seemed to have been some 

 trouble amongst this motley company, for some of them 

 had black eyes, and others noses that were swollen and 

 red ; and many angry looks, and a great deal too much 

 swearing, were interchanged between certain individuals. 

 I heard Finnock, too, complain that a proper amount of 

 work had not been done ; but even before he could get 

 about this was remedied. Before daybreak the men 

 were aroused by Johnny blowing a horn the most 

 horrid-toned horn I ever heard. Everybody was on 

 his pins in an instant, for everybody went to bed in his 

 clothes ; and breakfast being ready before the horn was 

 sounded, every man set to at once to consume his coffee 



