248 OUR RETURN JOURNEY 



the day, which, considering the awful condition 

 of the roads, we thought satisfactory. We put 

 up for the night at a farm house, Mr. Letour- 

 neau's, where we were very kindly treated and 

 for supper had some fine caribou steaks, one of 

 the sons having killed a couple of caribou in the 

 vicinity while cutting wood. I was told that they 

 frequently came down to the settlements. 



There was still in use in this house an old- 

 fashioned iron lamp, shaped like a pitch ladle, 

 and burning common train oil. It was a sort of 

 two story affair, the under portion being intended 

 to receive the drippings. The handle, which was 

 bent, was secured to a double wooden ratchet by 

 which it could be raised or lowered at pleasure. 

 The ceiling of the house and the rafters were the 

 color of the top masts of a collier. After a little 

 persuasion, I induced the old lady to part with it 

 for an ordinary coal oil lamp and two gallons of 

 oil, and this old relic now adorns a private collec- 

 tion. 



From Mechins west the roads were somewhat 

 better and less hilly and we had lunch at Pointe a 

 la Baleine. This was a sort of regular stopping 

 place, and Mrs. P., who kept the house, insist- 

 ed on treating my brother and the drivers to a 

 nice hot drink of what she called " whisky blanc," 

 but which was, I suspected, of her own manufac- 

 ture. It had a smell of turpentine, sulphuric acid 

 and pepper combined, and must have been very 



