20 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. 



having had a good night's rest and plenty of food, 

 kept up a good pace ; and as the state of the snow 

 was just all that could be desired, we were sure of 

 a quick and pleasant day's journey. Our way lay 

 through a long and continuous chain of lakes, and 

 was decidedly monotonous ; not a tree, not a bush, 

 not a living thing in sight to relieve the dreariness 

 and dulness of that endless waste. Far, far away in 

 the distance, rose a low ridge of hills, stretching com- 

 pletely across the horizon; this range formed the 

 watershed of the district, and we had, consequently, 

 until reaching it, almost entirely uphill work, but 

 had, of course, the satisfaction of knowing that we 

 should go quickly enough downhill after we had 

 once attained the summit. Still, before coming to 

 the real ascent, we had many miles of lake to tra- 

 verse. The road across these large waters is marked 

 out by branches of birch placed on the ice at regular 

 intervals. The labour of setting up these way-marks 

 every winter falls on the occupants of ihefjeld-xt>"', 

 and is by no means without its risks. For example, 

 as the largest lake is seven or eight miles long and 

 about the same breadth, it is no small matter to be in 

 the middle of this large tract in a snowstorm or a fog. 

 As before mentioned, the deer I had was a staid 

 and sensible animal, but withal too slow for my taste ; 

 and so, noticing that I was gradually falling behind 

 as usual, I insisted on a change at the next stoppage. 

 My icapoos did not like this, but he put on an inno- 



