n
the river's bank; but when we consider the circumstances in which they
were placed, we shall perceive that they were far from being pleasant
ones. They were in the midst of a wilderness, without either horse or
boat to carry them out of it. They had lost everything but their arms
and their axe. The hunting-shirts of some of them, as we have seen, were
destroyed, and they would now suffer from the severe cold that even in
summer, as we have said, often reigns in these latitudes. Not a vessel
was left them for cooking with, and not a morsel of meat or anything was
left to be cooked. For their future subsistence they would have to
depend upon their guns, which, with their ammunition, they had
fortunately preserved.

After reaching the shore, their first thoughts were about procuring
something to eat. They had now been a long time without food, and all
four were hungry enough. As if by one impulse, all cast their eyes
around, and looked upward among the branches of the trees, to see if any
animal could be discovered that might serve them for a meal. Bird or
quadruped, it mattered not, so that it was large enough to give the four
a breakfast. But neither one nor the other was to be seen, although the
woods around had a promising appearance. The trees were large, and as
there was much underwood, consisting of berry-bushes and plants with
edible roots, our voyageurs did not doubt that there would be found game
in abundance. It was agreed, then, that Lucien and Francois should
remain on the spot and kindle a fire, while Basil and Norman went off in
search of something to be cooked upon it.

In less than an hour the latter returned, carrying an animal upon his
shoulders, which both the boys recognised as an old acquaintance--the
prong-horned antelope, so called from the single fork or prong upon its
horns. Norman called it "a goat," and stated that this was its name
among the fur-traders, while the Canadian voyageurs give it the title of
"cabree." Lucien, However, knew the animal well. He knew it was not of
the goat kind, but a true antelope, and the only animal of that genus
found in North America. Its habitat is the prairie country, and at the
present time it is not found farther east than the prairies extend, not
farther north either, as it is not a creature that can bear extreme
cold.

In early times, however--that is nearly two centuries ago--it must have
ranged nearly to the Atlantic shores, as Father Hennipen in his