68 A TRIP TO THE LA VAL. 



shut out all other sounds. The chaloupe lay below us, 

 its outline just defined upon the dark water, while we, 

 seated upon a log, drank our tea and feasted right roy- 

 ally upon fresh trout and other comforts that civilization 

 had provided us. 



Truly incomprehensible are the Canadian people. One 

 of the few inhabitants being without any eatable thing 

 in the house, having scraped the flour barrel till he had 

 scraped off splinters of wood, and, except for our arrival, 

 without the prospect of a meal for the morrow, had 

 soothed his sorrows by inviting his neighbors to a ball. 

 Of course there was no supper ; but the music of one 

 fiddle, and the merry spirits of the Canadian girls made 

 up for the deficiency, and when we joined them, after 

 our tea, they all seemed as happy as though stomachs 

 never grew hungry or limb^tired. Being politely offered 

 the belles, we joined the festivities, our potables adding 

 to the merriment of the party, till, with the prospect 

 of a hard day's work on the morrow, we thought best to 

 retire to the dressing-room and camp upon the floor for 

 the night. Although the bed was hard, and our rest 

 somewhat disturbed by visions of beautiful creatures 

 arranging their hair and dresses by the light of a tallow 

 candle, before the looking-glass in our room, and at last 

 donning their hats for a final departure, we slept toler- 

 ably, and the early dawn saw us on our feet, preparing 

 for our departure. 



"While the men were carrying out our directions, in 

 anticipation of a long absence from civilization, the 

 attractions of the finny tribe were too seductive, and we, 

 yielding to their enticements, again cast our lines in plea- 



