72 CANADIAN WILDS. 



butter was not supplied by headquarters, as we 

 were supposed to make our own. 



The allowances never came up with the gen- 

 eral outfit, but were sent up in bulk to the head 

 quarters of the district, and there parceled out 

 for each post in that Factor's territory. The 

 clerks or officers in charge of these out-posts 

 went to headquarters about the 15th of August 

 with a half-sized canoe. This being a special 

 trip, made especially for the allowance of any 

 small thing that might have been overlooked in 

 the indent, was called "The Allowance Canoe." 



A week was generally spent at headquarters 

 in friendly intercourse with the staff there. The 

 prospects for the ensuing year were talked over, 

 and the requisition for the next year's outfit 

 read carefully over, and any article requiring 

 explanation or comment was then gone into by 

 the Factor while he had the framer of the indent 

 at hand. 



This was the only time of the year that all 

 the officers of that district met together, their 

 respective posts being east, north and west, and 

 hundreds of miles of forest and stream separat- 

 ing them. This reunion was a red letter week, 

 and no sooner were we back to our posts but 

 we looked forward to the next meeting. I doubt 

 very much if today such a self-reliant, hardy 



