226 A CANADIAN SNOW-SCENE. 



fact relative to the Indians of Canada, that from the 

 moment these poor wretches have tasted the " fire-water," 

 they lose all sense of honour, duty, self-respect, and would 

 willingly give to procure it everything which they possess 

 in the world even their life ! It is true that at most 

 times this is worth but little. 



On either side of the route which we were traversing, 

 the country was cleared to a certain distance ; but be- 

 yond nothing was visible but woodlands and uncultivated 

 steppes, a complete solitude. We had to cross numerous 

 half-frozen brooks ; the swirling waters with difficulty 

 forced a passage through the midst of masses of ice whose 

 protuberances were so many obstacles, and over which 

 they leaped in foamy cascades. The icy shroud, all re- 

 splendently white, denned each outline of the soil, and 

 brought out into startling relief the sombre contours and 

 shadowy profundities of the forests of cedar and fir which 

 bordered the road. 



The storm had not ceased to rage, and the snow fell 

 incessantly in great flakes, burying the communications 

 under a layer which visibly grew thicker. From time to 

 time we met with sledges loaded with wood or bags of 

 grain; but, as the way was too narrow for a chasse- 

 croise to be easily accomplished, the driver ranged his 

 horses on the extreme edge, leaving the sledge to sink in 

 the snow, and maintaining it in a horizontal position by 

 leaning on it with all his might. Our coachman whipped 

 up his cattle and swept by, not without considerable dif- 

 ficulty. In one of these rencontres our sledge caught in 

 that of a farmer, and, as it was the lighter, was precipi- 

 tated, with all it contained, into a ditch five feet deep in 

 snow. We escaped with a few contusions and some 



