CRUISE OF LA BELLE MARGUERITE 
It was here in the little harbour of the Crow 
that Mathias, he of the brass bracelet to keep 
off rheumatism and salt-water sores, cried out 
‘Les Sauvages!’’ and here I made my first 
visit on these interesting people. 
Again we bore away, and this time for Pi- 
ashte-bai Bay, at whose mouth we visited a soli- 
tary Indian wigwam, and spent part of two 
days with a fur-trader, visiting his house, as- 
cending the river to the falls and gathering 
much interesting information. 
While we were on the shore we met one of the 
inhabitants returning from his traps with a 
large beaver on his back, and, on our return to 
“La Belle,’’ we found that the men had shot 
another as it was swimming across the harbour. 
They are interesting beasts, these beaver, from 
many points of view, historical and otherwise, 
and that night I learned some new facts. With 
great care Mathias prepared the tit-bit, the 
tail, for supper. First he roasted it slightly over 
the embers, so that the black, scaly skin could 
be easily scraped off; then with an axe he cut 
up the white meat into little cubes, and boiled it 
in a sauce-pan. It tasted something like pigs’ 
feet, and although good eating, was not as 
115 
