Adventure and adventurers > Away in the wilderness, or, Life among the red Indians and fur-traders of North America

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AWAY IN THE WILDERNESS.
low soft voice, and, both in mind and body,
seemed to delight in a state of repose.
We have said that his coat was made of leather;
the moccasins or Indian shoes on his feet were
made of the same material. When Jasper first
pnt them on they were soft like a glove of chamois
leather, and bright yellow; but hard service had
turned them into a dirty brown, which looked
more business like. The sun had burned his face
and hands to as deep a brown as his coat. On
his head he wore a little round cap, which he had
made with his own hands, after having caught the
black fox that supplied the fur, in one of his own
traps. A coloured worsted belt bound his coat
round his waist, and beneath the coat he wore a
scarlet flannel shirt. A long knife and a small
hatchet were stuck in the belt at his back, and in
front hung a small cloth bag, which was so thickly
ornamented with beads of many colours, that little
of the cloth could be seen.
This last was a fire-bag—so called because it
contained the flint, steel, and tinder required for
making a fire. It also contained Jasper’s pipe
and tobacco—for he smoked, as a matter of course.
Men smoke everywhere—more’s the pity—and
Jasper followed the example of those around him.
Smoking was almost his only fault. He was a
tremendous smoker. Often, when out of tobacco,
he had smoked tea. Frequently he had tried