WOLF AGAINST MAN. 333 
upon pulled down his precious bundles of Labrador Tea, 
from which he showed the negro woman how to concoct 
a beverage which, if not equal to that produced by the 
famous Japanese herb, was at least hot and refreshing, 
and not at all unpalatable. Peeschee, moreover, w^ent out 
for an hour or two, one day, and brought in a big pouch 
full of a crinkled, black substance, which Richard, on 
inspecting it, pronounced to be the edible lichen " of the 
Eussian fur-hunters. On being boiled, this gave a rather 
sticky but not ill-tasting dish, somewhat resembling sago. 
Now and then a rabbit was knocked over, and afforded 
a pleasant variety in the monotonous regime to w^hich our 
adventurers had for some time been reduced. 
The snow increased in depth, after a week's thaw in 
January, and the mercury dropped until it marked 40° 
below zero, beyond which Mr. Button's provoking ther- 
mometer, like Gilbert White's, would not register. 
In March a few puffs of warmer breeze from the south, 
and the swelling buds of willow and alder, told that 
spring was coming. The wolves no longer troubled them, 
having learned at last that too much familiarity with 
these human intruders meant a flash of lightning, a peal 
of thunder, and sudden death. Caribou afforded easier 
prey, and off streamed the remnant of the pack to some 
part of the country where they could obtain better returns 
for less labor than around the Button camp. 
Game now became plenty, and famine was no longer 
feared. The days lengthened, and snow-banks began to 
