the neighbourhood of the post to attend to; my situation, however, was
often far from agreeable, being frequently reduced to the company of
my pigs and poultry for weeks together, and obliged to act as trader,
cook, hewer of wood, and drawer of water.

In the course of the winter I was favoured with a visit from Mr.
F----r, to whose district this post had just been annexed, and had the
gratification to receive, through him, a letter from Governor Simpson,
conveying, in very flattering terms, his approbation of my conduct.
I was told that I was in the direct road to preferment--that my
merits should be represented to the Council on his arrival in the
interior--and that he should be happy to have an opportunity of
recommending me to the Governor and Committee, when he returned to
England. We shall see, in the sequel, how these promises were
fulfilled.

I embarked, on the 15th June, 1827, for Montreal, and found Mr.
K----h, a chief factor in the service, at the head of affairs; and my
outfit being prepared in a few days, I re-embarked, taking my passage,
as formerly, on board of a large canoe, deeply laden. The last rapid
and portage on the Riviere aux Lievres is within eight miles of the
establishment, and generally takes the men a day to pass it. Arriving
at this place late in the evening, I resolved on going on a-foot;
it being fine moonlight, I felt confident of finding my way without
difficulty. The weather having been immoderately hot for some time
past, I had sat in the canoe divested of my upper garments, and
thought I might, without inconvenience, dispense with them now, as I
expected to reach the house ere the night air could prove injurious to
me.

Setting off, therefore, in "light marching order," I immediately
gained the high grounds, in order to keep clear of the underwood that
covers the banks of the river; and just as the moon appeared above the
surrounding hills, arrived on the banks of a small stream, where I
observed a portage path sunk deep in the ground, a circumstance which
proved it to be much frequented--by whom or for what purpose I could
not say, for I had seldom passed the limits of my farm during last
winter, and was nearly as ignorant of the topography of the environs
as the first day I arrived. I had not heard of the existence of a
river in the quarter, nor did I imagine there was any; the conclusion
I arrived at therefore was, that I had lost my way, and that my most
eligible course was,