ith our host, a squat,
yellow-haired, gnome-like creature in sheepskin frock and bark shoes,
who manifests unbounded amazement every time he sees us washing our
hands.

But the lake itself is, if possible, even more picturesque than the
river. It is one of those long, straggling bodies of water so common in
the far North, resembling not so much one great lake as an endless
series of small ones. Just at the sortie of the river a succession of
rapids, scarcely less magnificent than those of the "Foss" itself, rush
between the wooded shores, their unresting whirl and fury contrasting
gloriously with the vast expanse of glassy water above, crested with
leafy islets and mirroring the green boughs that droop over it along the
shore. Here did we spend many a night fishing and "spinning yarns," in
both of which accomplishments the ex-chasseur was pre-eminent; and
strange enough it seemed, lying in the depths of that northern forest,
to listen to descriptions of the treeless sands of Egypt and the burning
wastes of the Sahara. Our midnight camp, on a little promontory just
above the rapids, was a study for Rembrandt--the slender pine-stems
reddened by the blaze of our camp-fire; the group of bearded faces
coming and going as the light waxed and waned; beyond the circle of
light a gloom all the blacker for the contrast; the ghostly white of the
foam shimmering through the leaves, and the clear moonlit sky
overhanging all.

When a wet day came upon us the inexhaustible ex-chasseur (who, like
Frederick the Great, could "do everything but keep still") amused
himself and us with various experiments in cookery, of which art he was
a perfect master. His versatility in sauces might have aroused the envy
of Soyer himself, and the party having brought with them a large stock
of provisions, he was never at a loss for materials. Our ordinary dinner
consisted of trout sauced with red wine, mutton, veal, duck, cheese,
fresh strawberries and coffee; after which every man took his tumbler of
tea, with a slice of lemon in it, from the stove, and the evening began.

_The_ sight of the country, however, is undoubtedly the natives
themselves. Their tawny skins, rough yellow hair and coarse flat faces
would look uninviting enough to those who have never seen a Kalmuck or a
Samoyede, but, despite their diet of dried fish and bread mixed with
sawdust, both men and women are remarkably healthy and capable of
surprising feats of strength and enduranc