xurious beverage was made exclusively for Lucien,
and was found by him exceedingly beneficial during his illness.

To the great joy of all the invalid was at length restored to health,
and the canoe being once more launched and freighted, they continued
their journey.

They coasted along the shores of the lake, and entered the Great Slave
River, which runs from the Athabasca into the Great Slave Lake. They
soon came to the mouth of another large river, called the Peace. This
runs into the Great Slave a short distance below Lake Athabasca, and,
strange to say, the sources of the Peace River lie upon the _western_
side of the Rocky Mountains, so that this stream actually runs across
the mountain-chain! It passes through the mountains in a succession of
deep gorges, which are terrible to behold. On both sides dizzy cliffs
and snow-capped peaks rise thousands of feet above its rocky bed, and
the scenery is cold and desolate. Its head-waters interlock with those
of several streams that run into the Pacific; so that, had our voyageurs
wished to travel to the shores of that ocean, they might have done so in
their birch-bark canoe nearly the whole of the way. But this was not
their design at present, so they passed the _debouchure_ of the Peace,
and kept on for the Great Slave Lake. They were still upon the same
water as the Elk, for the Great Slave is only another name for that part
of the river lying between the two lakes--Athabasca and Great Slave. Of
course the river had now become much larger by the influx of the Peace,
and they were travelling upon the bosom of a magnificent stream, with
varied scenery upon its banks. They were not so happy, however, as when
descending the Elk--not but that they were all in good health, for
Lucien had grown quite strong again. No, it was not any want of health
that rendered them less cheerful. It was the prospect before them--the
prospect of coming winter, which they now felt certain would arrive
before they had got to the end of their journey. The delay of nearly a
month, occasioned by Lucien's illness, had deranged all their
calculations; and they had no longer any hope of being able to finish
their voyage in what remained of the short summer. The ice would soon
make its appearance; the lakes and rivers would be frozen up; they could
no longer navigate them in their canoe. To travel afoot would be a most
laborious undertaking, as well as perilous in an extreme degree. In