l agreed would
be the very thing; and a large quantity was soon collected, as it grew
plentifully at a short distance from the cabin.

They now set to work to stuff it into the chinks; when, to their
astonishment, they found that this grass had a beautiful smell, quite as
powerful and as pleasant as that of mint or thyme! When a small
quantity of it was flung into the fire it filled the cabin with a
fragrance as agreeable as the costliest perfumes. It was the "scented
grass," which grows in great profusion in many parts of the Hudson's Bay
territory, and out of which the Indians often make their beds, burning
it also upon the fire to enjoy its aromatic perfume.

For the first day or two, at their new abode, the travellers had lived
altogether on fish. They had, of course, brought their net with them
from the island, and had set it near the shore in the same way as
before. They had captured as many as they wanted, and, strange to say,
at one haul they found no less than five different species in the net!
One kind, a white fish, the _Coregonus albus_ of naturalists, but which
is named "tittameg" by the fur-traders, they caught in great plenty.
This fish is found in nearly all the lakes and rivers of the Hudson's
Bay territory, and is much prized both by whites and Indians for its
delicate flavour. At some of the trading posts it often forms, for
weeks together, the only food which the residents can obtain; and they
are quite satisfied when they can get enough of it. The tittameg is not
a large fish; the largest attain to the weight of about eight pounds.

There was another and still smaller species, which, from its colour, the
voyageurs call the "poisson bleu," or blue fish. It is the _Coregonus
signifer_ of ichthyologists. It is a species of grayling, and frequents
sharp-running water, where it will leap at the fly like a trout.
Several kinds of trout also inhabit the Great Slave Lake, and some of
these attain to the enormous weight of eighty pounds! A few were
caught, but none of so gigantic proportions as this. Pike were also
taken in the net, and a species of burbot (_Gadus lota_). This last is
one of the most voracious of the finny tribe, and preys upon all others
that it is able to swallow. It devours whole quantities of cray-fish,
until its stomach becomes crammed to such a degree as to distort the
shape of its whole body. When this kind was drawn out, it was treated
very rudely by the boys--because