Adventure and adventurers > Hudson Bay, or, Everyday life in the wilds of North America

230
MEETING WITH FRIENDS.
friends of mine; so I accosted them, without introduc¬
ing myself, and chatted for some time about the occur¬
rences of the voyage. They appeared a little discon¬
certed, however, and looked very earnestly at me two
or three times. At last they confessed they had for¬
gotten me altogether! And, indeed, it was no wonder,
for the sun had burned me nearly as black as my Indian
friends, while my dress consisted of a blue capote, sadly
singed by the fire—a straw hat, whose shape, from ex¬
posure and bad usage, was utterly indescribable—a pair
of corduroys, and Indian moccasins; which so meta¬
morphosed me, that my friends, who perfectly recollected
me the moment I mentioned my name, might have re¬
mained in ignorance to this day had I not enlightened
them on the subject.
After supper one of these gentlemen.offered me a share
of his tent, and we turned in together, but not to sleep;
for we continued gossiping till long after the noisy
voices of the men had ceased to disturb the tranquillity
of night.
At the first peep of day our ears were saluted with
the usual unpleasant sound of “ Lhve ! live! live! ”
issuing from the leathern throat of the guide. Now
this same “ Live ! ” is in my ears a peculiarly harsh and
disagreeable word, being associated with frosty morn¬
ings, uncomfortable beds, and getting up in the dark
before half enough of sleep has been obtained. The
way in which it is uttered, too, is particularly exasper¬
ating ; and often, when partially awakened by a stump
boring a hole in my side, have I listened with dread to
hear the detested sound, and then, fancying it must