which are calculated to
carry eight men as a crew, besides three passengers. The one now before
us was built much the same as an Indian canoe, but somewhat neater, and
ornamented with sundry ingenious devices painted in gaudy colours on the
bows and stern. It was manned by eight men and apparently one
passenger, to whom I hallooed once or twice; but they took me, no doubt,
for an Indian, and so passed on without taking any notice of us. As the
noble bark bounded quickly forward and was hid by intervening trees, I
bent a look savouring slightly of contempt upon our little Indian canoe,
and proceeded to finish breakfast.

A solitary north canoe, however, passing thus in silence, can give but a
faint idea of the sensation felt on seeing a brigade of them arriving at
a post after a long journey. It is then that they appear in wild
perfection. The _voyageurs_ upon such occasions are dressed in their
best clothes; and gaudy feathers, ribbons, and tassels stream in
abundance from their caps and garters. Painted gaily, and ranged side
by side, like contending chargers, the light canoes skim swiftly over
the water, bounding under the vigorous and rapid strokes of the small
but numerous paddles, while the powerful _voyageurs_ strain every muscle
to urge them quickly on. And while yet in the distance, the beautifully
simple and lively yet plaintive paddling song, so well suited to the
surrounding scenery, and so different from any other air, breaks sweetly
on the ear; and one reflects, with a kind of subdued and pleasing
melancholy, how far the singers are from their native land, and how many
long and weary days of danger and of toil will pass before they can rest
once more in their Canadian homes. How strangely, too, upon their
nearer approach, is this feeling changed for one of exultation, as the
deep and manly voices swell in chorus over the placid waters, while a
competition arises among them who shall first arrive; and the canoes
dash over the water with arrow-speed to the very edge of the wharf,
where they come suddenly, and as by magic, to a pause. This is effected
by each man backing water with his utmost force; after which they roll
their paddles on the gunwale simultaneously, enveloping themselves in a
shower of spray as they shake the dripping water from the bright
vermilion blades. Truly it is an animating, inspiriting scene, the
arrival of a brigade of light canoes.

Our route now lay through a number of s