15 



application of the scrapings of the frying pan to its axle ; yet 

 no vehicle, I verily believe, which has been used before or 

 since, was so suited for the traversing of a country where, in 

 one day, it might have to travel over, with its thiee-inch-wide 

 wooden tire, a shaking bog, a miry creek, a sandy shore, or a 

 boulder strewn path up steep hills. At a cost of two pounds 

 sterling, in the old days, one became the possessor of a vehi- 

 cle, the high wheels of which made it easy to draw, the great 

 dish of the wheels made it haixl to upset, while the loose joint- 

 ed felloes saved the wheel from wreck, by closing and yield- 

 ing when a rock was struck in a deep river crossing, oi the 

 hidden stump in a newly cut trail was encountered. A very 

 haven of rest wert thou, O cart, on the prairie, when, the 

 long day of travel ended, a large square of canvas thrown over 

 you made a tent before a camp fire better than any other, and 

 an ark of safety when the sw^ollen river was too deep to ford ; 

 thy wheels off and under the box, with the same square of 

 canvas about all, thou wast a boat made in ten ii)inutes, in 

 which two travellers, with their belongings, might paddle oi 

 pole from shore to shore in safety, leading the swimming 

 horses behind. 



My excuse for thus apostrophising my Red River cart as 

 a sentient being is tijat, like Blackie, it had tricks of its own 

 which puzzled the uninitiated. Attempt to ride in it in any 

 way that one is wont to do in a ""civilized vehicle, and it soon 

 rattled (if I may use a modern expression) its occupant, who 

 found himself, to a musical accompaniment of frying pan and 

 tin kettles, trying alternately to preserve himself from being- 

 pitched onto the pony, having his right or left ribs cracked 

 against the side rail, or turning a somersault over the tail- 

 board of the cart. No, there is only one way to ride in a cart 

 with ease and pleasure, and that is seated in front on its floor, 

 with youi' legs hanging down near the horse's tail. If you 

 are luxurious, tie a broad piece of shaganappi from rail to 

 rail to support your back, put an extra folded blanket under 

 you, sway your body slightly with Blackie or Bichon's jog- 

 trot, and you need not envy the occupants of a coach and 



