82 ON THE GREAT CHURCHILL RIVER 



circumstance occasioned by necessity — lack of 

 colours to select from, and the impossibility of 

 having an accurate blend sent in to that remote 

 station by any but a particularly enthusiastic 

 craftsman. The walls, and ceilings between the 

 rafters, were painted pale blue ; the column 

 white ; and, for the rest, all woodwork was 

 painted dark reddish-brown — the cornice, the 

 column caps, the window-frames, the roof -rafters, 

 and the seating — while the window openings 

 contained leaded glass divided into small oblong 

 panes of red, yellow, blue, green, purple and 

 white in glaring contrasts. I came again outside, 

 and was almost glad of the grave greyness and 

 ill repair of the exterior, which appeared to be 

 in the last stage of decay ; moss growing on the 

 weather-beaten, paintless grey boarding, and 

 many places broken and growing to an open 

 wound. 



Leaving the church, the door was closed and 

 secured with a piece of string tied to a nail. 



June 24. — It was daybreak at 2 a.m. and the 

 rain was easing outside the tent. By 4 a.m. we 

 were hauling up tent-pegs and preparing to 

 leave Stanley. There was a light wind from the 

 north, but it was dull and cold — more like Fall 

 weather than that of June. Small openings of 

 clear sky showed scantily through dreary, dull- 

 grey clouds — disclosures more blue than any of a 

 common summer's day, and it is probably on 

 account of the strangely cold atmosphere that 

 there is such brilliancy to-day. 



Proceeding on our way down the Churchill 

 River, we soon came to Grave Rapids, below 



