CRAWFISH BLACKFISH LAKE. 129 



hour UIil and I with two of the boys had caught half 

 a pailful. The old lady looked at us with astonish- 

 ment as we seized a saucepan, put in the crawfish with 

 a little salt, filled it up with water, and set it on the 

 fire; they had always thought them only fit for bait. 

 The crawfish soon began to show their red noses, and, 

 when done, we set to work on them. The meal itself 

 was no slight treat, but our enjoyment was much 

 heightened by watching the countenances of the Ameri- 

 cans, expressive half of merriment, half of disgust, 

 for they had never dreamt that people could eat such 

 nasty animals with such a zest. 



When the trees made long shadows we took a friendly 

 leave of these kind folks, and set off towards the west. 

 About ten o'clock we came to Blackfish lake, which 

 we had to cross. There was a house on the bank, 

 where the ferryman lived ; but everybody seemed fast 

 asleep — so w^e lighted our fire close to the lake, and, 

 covering ourselves Avell in our buffalo skin and blanket, 

 we slept soundly till the morning in spite of the mos- 

 quitoes who were humming furiously above us. 



On the 22nd May we were stirring at daybreak ; and 

 who would not have been so, after sleeping in the open 

 air in a southern climate, surrounded by mosquitoes, 

 which by the first glimmer of light -collect all their 

 forces to attack more ferociously than ever? We 

 roused the ferryman, who told us of an unexpected 

 swamp, which it would be impossible for us to get 

 through with such a weight of baggage. I had heard 

 the word impossible too often, to have much respect for 

 it, it being frequently applied to things that afterwards 

 were proved to be very possible; however, a swamp 



