The Young Voyageurs | Page 7

at long intervals, would be of little service to the traveller in
the Northern regions. Here the route is crossed and intercepted by

numerous rivers; and lakes of all sizes, with tracts of inundated marsh,
succeed one another continually. Such, in fact, are the highways of the
country, and the canoe the travelling carriage; so that a journey from
one point of the Hudson's Bay territory to another is often a canoe
voyage of thousands of miles--equal to a "trip" across the Atlantic!
Following the usual custom, therefore, our Boy Hunters had become
voyageurs--"Young Voyageurs." They had navigated the Saint Peter's
in safety, almost to its head-waters. These interlock with the sources of
the Red River. By a "portage" of a few miles they had crossed to the
latter stream; and, having launched their canoe upon its waters, were
now floating downward and northward with its current. But they had
yet a long journey before them--nearly two thousand miles! Many a
river to be "run," many a rapid to be "shot," many a lake to be crossed,
and many a "portage" to be passed, ere they could reach the end of that
great voyage.
Come, boy reader, shall we accompany them? Yes. The strange scenes
and wild adventures through which we must pass, may lighten the toils,
and perhaps repay us for the perils, of the journey. Think not of the
toils. Roses grow only upon thorns. From toil we learn to enjoy leisure.
Regard not the perils. "From the nettle danger we pluck the flower
safety." Security often springs from peril. From such hard experiences
great men have arisen. Come, then, my young friend! mind neither toil
nor peril, but with me to the great wilderness of the North!
Stay! We are to have another "compagnon du voyage." There is a
fourth in the boat, a fourth "young voyageur." Who is he? In
appearance he is as old as Basil, full as tall, and not unlike him in
"build." But he is altogether of a different colour. He is fair-haired; but
his hair (unlike that of Lucien, which is also light-coloured) is strong,
crisp, and curly. It does not droop, but stands out over his cheeks in a
profusion of handsome ringlets. His complexion is of that kind known
as "fresh," and the weather, to which it has evidently been much
exposed, has bronzed and rather enriched the colour. The eyes are
dark blue, and, strange to say, with black brows and lashes! This is not
common, though sometimes observed; and, in the case of the youth we

are describing, arose from a difference of complexion on the part of his
parents. He looked through the eyes of his mother, while in other
respects he was more like his father, who was fair-haired and of a
"fresh" colour.
The youth, himself, might be termed handsome. Perhaps he did not
possess the youthful beauty of Francois, nor the bolder kind that
characterised the face of Basil. Perhaps he was of a coarser "make"
than any of his three companions. His intellect had been less cultivated
by education, and education adds to the beauty of the face. His life had
been a harder one--he had toiled more with his hands, and had seen
less of civilised society. Still many would have pronounced him a
handsome youth. His features were regular, and of clean outline. His
lips expressed good-nature as well as firmness. His eye beamed with
native intelligence, and his whole face bespoke a heart of true and
determined honesty--that made it beautiful.
Perhaps a close scrutiniser of countenances might have detected some
resemblance--a family one--between him and his three companions. If
such there was, it was very slight; but there might have been, from the
relationship that existed between them and him. He was their cousin--
their full cousin--the only son of that uncle they were now on their way
to visit, and the new-comer who had been sent to bring them. Such was
the fourth of "the young voyageurs."
His dress was not unlike that worn by Basil; but as he was seated on
the bow, and acting as pilot, and therefore more likely to feel the cold,
he wore over his hunting-shirt a Canadian capote of white woollen
cloth, with its hood hanging, down upon his shoulders.
But there was still another "voyageur," an old acquaintance, whom you,
boy reader, will no doubt remember. This was an animal, a quadruped,
who lay along the bottom of the canoe upon a buffalo's hide. "From his
size and colour--which was a tawny red--you might have mistaken him
for a panther--a cougar. His long black muzzle and broad hanging ears
gave him quite a different aspect, however, and declared him to be a
hound. He was one--a bloodhound, with the build of a