THROUGH THE PETITE RIGOLET 



mixed with society, he never intended to 

 return to it. 'The country around,' said he, 

 * is all my own, much farther than you can see. 

 No fees, no lawyers, no taxes are here. I do 

 pretty much as I choose. My means are ample 

 through my own industry. These vessels come 

 here for Seal-skins, Seal-oil, and salmon, and 

 give me in return all the necessaries, and in- 

 deed comforts, of the life I love to follow; and 

 what else could the world afford me?' I spoke 

 of the education of his children. ' My wife and 

 I teach them all that is useful for them to 

 know, and is not that enough? My girls will 

 marry their countrymen, my sons the daugh- 

 ters of my neighbors, and I hope all of them 

 will live and die in the country!' " 



After our exchange of calls with the repre- 

 sentative of this interesting family, who had 

 followed his grandfather's advice, we weighed 

 anchor and continued our course on one of the 

 most beautiful days of the summer. It is true 

 that it was hardly summer heat, for the ther- 

 mometer was 49° in the morning, 57° at noon, 

 and 55° at night, but the sun was bright, the 

 air was clear, and a gentle northwest wind 

 brought us the odor of balsam firs and the 

 171 



