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Lorsque Ie document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul cliche, il est fWvni d partir de Tangle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant Ie nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mithode. by errata led to ent jne pelure, agon d 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 '**■%'■'»'■*" "■■" J* AI.KC SHOOTS THii BEAR. Frontispiece, see pa^e 4-2. »: St.jH' .^-^a^mM ■ «iwM < { i l i w « 11 li WILD \ND I , ^ K, V I ) I j N ( Ji, AS ) ' fcAiij » 244 XXTV. 266 XXVT. • ^ 282 XXVT. facing 200 :XVTTT. 304 4 THREE BOYS IN THE WILD NORTH LAND li CHAPTER I Welcome to Sagastaweekee — Mr Rosa, the Host — Tlie Three Boys — Frank, Alec, Sam — The 'Prince Arthur , — The Voyage — The Esquimaux — Arrival at York Factory. " Welcome to the Wild North Land ! Welcome to our happy home in tlie Land of the North Wind ! Welcome, thrice welcome all and each one of you ! " Thus heartily and rapidly did Mr Ross address a trio of sunburnt, happy boys, who, with all the assurance of a joyous welcome, had burst in upon him in his comfortable, well-built home or *' hunting- lodge," as he preferred to call it, on the banks of the Nelson River. This cosy but isolated home was situated some hundreds of miles up in the interior of the country from York Factory on the Hudson Bay. Mr Ross had named his house " Sa-gas-ta-wee-kee," a beautiful Indian word, which literally means "a house full of sunshine." He had spent most of his days as an official in the Hudson Bay Company's service, as had his father before him, and a few years before this, being possessed of abundance of means, 8 TLREE HOYS IN THE WILD NOUi'lI LAND he had retired from active work in tlie threat fur- trading c .inpany. He liad tried to settle down in an older civiiis(id land, but had found it impossible to content himself away from those regions where lie had spent the best part of his life. His wife and family were of the same mind, and so, after some years of travel in vai'ious lands, they returned to this northern country, where they had spent many happy days. Every year or two Mr Ross, with some members of his family, was in the habit of visitin<; what he loved to call the Mother Country. So full was his life of varied and startliuf*; adventures, that he was often asked to give addresses on some of the marvellous experiences through wdiich he had passed. Among those who listened to him with keen interest, as he gave a series of addresses in one of the great historic schools in the home land, were the three boys who are to bo the heroes of tins book. Although they were from different families and nationalities yet they wei*e congenial .'jpirith:, and were equally tilled with the love of sport and of exciting adventure. For such boys, Mr Ross's addresses about Indians, wild animals, and the ex- citements of the hunt, had the greatest fascination. They had managed to make liis personal acquaint- ance, and had induced him to visit their different towns, where he lectured, and to be the guest at their homes, where his delightful stories had charmed every member of their households. After tliis it was not so difficult to j^ersuade their parents to consent to their spending a year or so in the wilds of the northern part of the great Dominion of Canada, under his guidance, and he most good- naturedly pleaded for this arrangement on their THHKE HOYS IX THE WILD NORTH LAND 3 5S'S it- tnt lat id Hi' belialf. It was iinpoHsiblc for tliem to return witli Mr Koss, on account of their studieH, and Heveral niontlis passed away ere it was practicable for tliein to begin their journey, so lie had gone back alone, and had made all preparations at home for entertainini; them, as members of his house- hold, for an indefinite period. Letters had been sent on in advance notifying the prouabie time of the boys' arrival. But, as often happened in that wild country where there was no postal service, the letters never arrived, and so the first intimation Mr Ross had of their coming was their bursting in uj^on him. Of course they were welcome. In all new lands there is an open-hearted hospitality that is very delightful, and this was emphatically so in the vast, lonely region of the Hudson Bay Territory, where the white men in those days were so few and so widely scattered apart from each other. And now that they are snugly ensconced in the home of their good friend and his hospitable family, ere we begin to describe their many sports and adventures, let us find out something about our heroes, and have them describe some of the incidents of the long trip which they have already made on their journey to this Land of the North Wind. Frank, the eldest of the three, was the son of a Liverpool banker. His friends had vainly tried to divert his mind from wild adventure and exciting sports, and persuade him to settle down to steady routine ofhce work. Failing in this, they had listened to Mr Ross's invitation, and had consented to let him have the year in the Wild North Land, hoping that its trials and hardships would effect- 4 THREE HOYS IN THE WILD NORTH LAND iially cure liiin of his love of adventure, and cauHC him to settle down cheerfully at his father's business. Alec was from ^^r-" J, a genuine son of the " mountain and the .^i.^{\." While a good student when at school, yet, when at home on his holidays, his great delight had ever been, under the guidance of a faithful old gillie, to f( dow on the trail of the mountain deer. For a wi^^ field than that ottered by his native Highlands he had been so longing that his friends yielded to his importunities, and so now here he is, with his comrades, full of eager anticipations. !Sam was fronn what his mother used to call " dear, dirty Dublin." He was full of life and fun, a jolly Irish boy of the finest type. Storms and privations might at times depress the spirits of the others, but Sam, true to his nationality, never lost his spirits or his good nature. So rapid had been his progress in his studies, that he had pushed himself beyond his years, and even his tutors had joined in his request that he should have the year off, which, spent in the invigorating air and healthful adventures in the Wild North Land, would, doubtless, be a blessing to both mind and body. In the good ship Prince Arthur of the Hudson Bay Company, our three young adventurers set sail in the month of May, from the London Docks. They met with no adventures worth recording until after they had left Stornoway, in the Orkney Isles, where they had called for their last consignment of supplies and the latest mails. Here they also shipped some hardy Orkney men and Highlanders, who were going out in the employment of the Company. The Prince Arthur was a staunch sailing vessel, TFIUEK HOYS IN THE WILD NORTH LAND r, ± I 4 built especially for tlic Hudson Buy Company's trade. 81ie was employed in cari*yin«^ out to that country the outfit of goods required in the great fur trade. Her return cargoes were the valuable furs obtained in barter from the Indians. Her destination was York Factory, on the western side of the Hudson Bay There her cargo was to be discharged, and carried by scores of inland boats and canoes to the various trad- ing posts in the different parts of that great country, which is larger than the whole continent of Europe. So remote were some of those posts from the seaboard, and so difficult and slow were the methods of transporting the goods, that several years passed ere the fur secured from them reached the London markets, to which they were all consigned, and where they were carried each year in the Company's ships. Although the Prince Arthur was far from being a first-class passenger ship, et she was a good, sea- worthy vessel, with plenty of room for the few passengers w^ho travelled by her each year. These were principally gentlemen of the Hudson Bay Company's service and their friends, or missionaries going out or returning home. Letters from influential quarters secured for our three boys the considerate attention of the captain and the ship's officers, and their own bright ways won the friendship of all the sailors on board. On the whole, they had a most successful passage. Fogp at times perplexed them, and a few enor- mous icebergs were so near that careful tacking was required to prevent accidents. The boys were filled w^ith admiration at these great mountains of ice ; some of them seemed like great islands, while others more closely resembled glorious cathedrals 6 TIIIIKK ItoVS IN TIIK WIFJ) NnRTII LAND )>uilt in mm )>!( a U(\ oiuenild. At timcH, hm the n weHtern Him shone upon thcin, tliey .seenied to take on in parts every colour of the rainhow. With ^reat int('!'<'Ht were they watched as they slowly (lril'te