MAKING READY FOR THE BARREN GROUNDS 153 



came along they had new lessons to learn before we " un- 

 derstood one another." Personally I acknowledge I pre- 

 fer the Indians to the half-breeds. Of course I met 

 splendid exceptions, notably Gaudet and Spencer, Hud- 

 son's Bay Company officers, and three of the company's 

 servants Michael Manderville, the interpreter at Reso- 

 lution, and Francois and William Pini, at Chipewyan, 

 of whom I have already spoken: but, as a rule, the 

 half-breeds are less tolerable than the Indians. And that 

 is saying a great deal. It is a question of two evils. One 

 would repent of either choice. Both in general are un- 

 trustworthy, avaricious, and uncleanly, but the half-breed 

 is nearer the white man in the viciousness of his hypoc- 

 risy. The white blood in his veins comes from the lowest 

 strains, and has given him the cunning of a higher intelli- 

 gence without imparting the better attributes of the more 

 civilized prototype. 



It is much easier for civilized man to become savage 

 than for a savage to become civilized. 



How I slept that first night of my arrival at Resolution ! 

 The comfort of a full stomach, the satisfaction of being at 

 the scene of action, so to speak, were soothing beyond ex- 

 pression. At any time, no matter how long hence, I am 

 sure if ever I sit back in my chair and reflect upon the 

 period of utmost complacency in my past life, those two 

 weeks at Resolution will be immediately recalled. My 

 bed was the board floor ; the substance of my daily 

 fare, caribou meat, tea, and bread ; my daily occupation, 

 running from ten to fifteen miles to keep in condition ; 

 the atmosphere, arctic ; not a bird note to break the si- 

 lence of the woods, nor a bit of pretty scenery to relieve 

 the monotony of the great desert of snow but I was no 

 longer jaded in body and mind, there was no hunger, I 

 was in magnificent physical condition, and just at the door 



