V Lac-la-Belle and Eagle River 1 1 5 



shanties had grown into towns, with hotels and 

 churches, all empty and drear, the fall in the price 

 of copper having forced their closing. The bird they 

 call the partridge swarmed along the road-side, 

 sitting on the logs, and refusing to move even after 

 many stones had been shied at him. The intelligent 

 citizen when driving along amuses himself now and 

 then by dismounting and endeavouring to kill them 

 with the whip, whilst his fellow-citizens keep up 

 discordant yowls to distract his attention. We left 

 Lac-la-Belle just at nightfall, and had a long and 

 wearisome drive through the forest in the dark, in 

 the course of which we managed to smash one of 

 our light waggons, which necessitated a long walk 

 thiough the driving rain and sleet. We knocked up 

 a charitable German mining master, who lent us a 

 new waggon, and without further disaster we reached 

 Eagle River Settlement at one in the morning. 

 The door of the tavern was open and we entered, 

 but could make no one hear ; so we lighted a fire in 

 the stove and foraged out a bottle of whisky and 

 some biscuits. At last the proprietor turned up 

 with an astonished countenance, and a tremendous 

 black eye, which he accounted for by a long rig- 

 marole story connected with the splitting of logs. 

 At last we got some beds, and turned into them 

 with infinite contentment. The next morning I 

 observed that the posts supporting the verandah 

 had been nearly whittled through by the guests as 

 they sat on the raised steps. 



