SEARCHING FOR HORSES. 141 



Having signed the agreement with S., and decided 

 on remaining here some time, it was necessary to fetch 

 our things, which we had left at Blackfish lake, and 

 S. kindly offered us one of his horses for the purpose ; 

 but the horses were running wild in the woods, and 

 had to be caught. Uhl and I set off to catch one, 

 taking different directions ; we searched the whole day 

 without seeing a single trail, and our endeavors on 

 the following day were just as unfortunate. At first 

 we hunted together, but afterwards again separated. 

 I went pacing along one of the paths that cross the 

 wood in all directions, but soon found that it was only 

 a deer or cow path ; I left it, and pushed on in a 

 straight direction, careless as to the line of country, so 

 that I could only fall in with a horse ; and as to the 

 night, sleeping under the green trees was more agree- 

 able than in a close room. The idea that I might lose 

 myself never occurred to me. At length, however, as 

 I advanced, the scenery assumed a different character 

 to that in S.'s neighborhood. It was no longer 

 marshy, but the ground was undulating, and I once 

 more saw fir-trees, which I had lately so much longed 

 for. Contrary to my expectations, I arrived at a farm 

 before dark, but could obtain no information about the 

 horses — no one had seen any — and on my asking how 

 far I was from S.'s farm, I received the agreeable 

 answer, " At least eleven miles ; " rather too far for an 

 evening's walk — so the good folks kindly asked me to 

 pass the night with them. I placed my gun and cap 

 in a corner, and seated myself with them in the mild 

 evening air; we struck up an agreeable conversation, 

 and I fully expected a very pleasant evening; but a 



