Homesteading 



being each fitted with a stout wooden plug, which 

 in theory is supposed to break if the sharf 

 happens to strike a formidable obstacle. When 

 this happens, it is of course necessary to stop. 

 remove the broken remains, and put in a nev 

 plug. 



After such little stops the share sometimes 

 travels some distance on the surface before re- 

 entering the ground, leaving unploughed patches. 

 The shares, too, want sharpening from time to 

 time, and as a forge may be anything from half 

 a mile to five miles off, this takes time, to say 

 nothing of engine breakdowns, which may render 

 a journey to town needful. 



However, about a week sufficed to finish our 

 thirty-five acres, and it was pleasant to have 

 the company of Lars. He entertained us in 

 the evenings with experiences of his old home 

 in Europe, and especially with an account of 

 a trip he had made to the Klondyke in search 

 of gold, of which he got but little. 



Misled by reports of the advantages of the 

 route through Edmonton and the North- West, 

 they set out from that city with horses, some of 

 which they finally ate. They built boats and 

 made sails for navigating the rivers, lived in a 

 tent during the winter, feeding mostly on game 

 they secured, reaching their destination after 



90 



