ief Nazinred was slowly pushing his canoe southward in
the direction of Great Bear Lake. He was accompanied, as we have said,
by three like-minded comrades, one of whom was named Mozwa--or
Moose-deer--from some fancied resemblance in him to that uncouth animal.

But Mozwa, although uncouth, was by no means ungenial. On the contrary,
he was a hearty good-natured fellow, who always tried to make the best
of things, and never gave way to despondency, however gloomy or
desperate might be the nature of his circumstances. Moreover, he was a
big strong man, full of courage, in the prime of life, and modest
withal, so that he was usually rather inclined to take than to give
advice--to be led, rather than to lead.

For hours together these men dipped their paddles over the side in
concert, without uttering a single word, or giving more than a slight
exclamation when anything worthy of notice attracted their attention.
The interchange of thought during the labours of the day did not seem to
strike them as necessary. The mere being in company of each other was a
sufficient bond of sympathy, until an encampment was reached each
evening, supper disposed of, and the tobacco-pipes in full blast. Then,
at last, their native reserve gave way, and they ventured to indulge a
little--sometimes a good deal--in the feast of reason and the flow of
soul.

Yet the nature of their voyage was such that white men might have deemed
verbal intercourse an occasional necessity, as their route lay through
much rugged and wild scenery, where the streams up which they had to
force their way were in some places obstructed by rapids and shallows,
and a mistake on their part might have brought sudden disaster and ruin.
For their canoe was deeply laden with the furs which they had secured
during the labours of the past winter, and on the sale of which to the
fur-traders depended much of their and their families' felicity or
misery during the winter which was to come. But the steersman and
bowman understood their work so well, and were so absolutely in accord,
that the slightest action with the paddle on the part of either was
understood and sympathetically met by the other.

This unity of action is much more important than the navigators of lakes
and oceans may suppose. In those almost currentless waters a steersman
in any craft is usually self-sufficient, but among turbulent rapids,
where rocks and shoals lie in all directions, and the deep-water