158 SUNDAY AT OLD FORT — THE RETURN. 



scarcely stand much less walk, through water up to the knees, 

 crawling over ridges of rocks to fall from which would have been 

 indeed dangerous, then five miles more of steady tramping be- 

 fore reaching home. One may draw his own conclusions as to 

 the endurance of these men, as this is a fair sample of what they 

 will do every day for weeks at a time, while hunting, without any 

 apparent ill effects. 



One may well imagine that I did full justice to the nice, hot 

 supper that was laid out before me, and was soon after snugly 

 tucked beneath a double covering of heavy blankets to seek the 

 rest so much needed. 



Sunday, the next day, was most charming. The sun came out 

 bright and warm and we all enjoyed the beautiful weather. We 

 had some birds for dinner, the first we had had for several weeks. 

 After the meal, although it was Sunday, since the men must get 

 back to their work the next day, we all started for the river again. 

 The water had become so open that we accomplished the worst 

 part of the journey in a boat, and walked the remainder in com- 

 parative ease and with very little trouble, reaching the Mission 

 station by evening. 



I will not say much regarding the Mission here, leaving that for 

 another place, as it is worthy of special consideration. I simply 

 called upon the genial people there, and enjoyed a short but very 

 pleasant interview. 



I left a small stock of medicines at the Mission house, having 

 brought some with me from home, and soon started off. I saw 

 some poultry in one of the houses. They were barred up and 

 carefully fed upon scraps from the table. The hens furnished 

 a few eggs, and were apparently about the only specimens of 

 this species of fowl on this part of the coast. Strange as it may 

 be, on the lower part of the coast, some sixty miles below this 

 place, I found hens so abundant — having been brought over from 

 Newfoundland — that I purchased several dozen of eggs for the 

 reasonable sum of a shilling, or twenty cents, a dozen. 



At the house of one of the inhabitants where we stopped to 



