36 CANADIAN NIGHTS 



have passed away, and everything is basking and 

 glowing under a blazing sun, hot but always 

 tempered with a cool breeze. Cattle wander about 

 the plain — or try to wander, for they are so fat 

 they can scarcely move. Water- fowl frequent the 

 lakes. The whole earth is green, and the margins 

 of the streams are luxuriant with a profuse growth 

 of wild flowers and rich herbage. The air is 

 scented with the sweet-smelling sap of the pines, 

 whose branches welcome many feathered visitors 

 from southern climes ; an occasional humming- 

 bird whirrs among the shrubs, trout leap in the 

 creeks, insects buzz in the air ; all nature is active 

 and exuberant with life. 



I and a Scotch gillie, who had accompanied me 

 from home, took up our abode in a little log- 

 shanty close to the ranch-house, and made our- 

 selves very cosy. There was not much elegance 

 or luxury in our domicile, but plenty of comfort. 

 Two rough rooms — a huge fireplace in one of 

 them — two beds, and no other furniture of any 

 kind whatever, completed our establishment. 

 But what on earth did we want with furniture ? 

 We were up before daylight, out hunting or fishing 

 all day, had our food at the ranch, sat on the 

 ground and smoked our pipes, and went to bed 



