The Young Voyageurs: Boy Hunters in the North

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Reid Mayne. The Young Voyageurs: Boy Hunters in the North

Chapter One. The Fur Countries

Chapter Two. The Young Voyageurs

Chapter Three. The Trumpeter Swan and the Bald Eagle

Chapter Four. The Swans of America

Chapter Five. A Swan-Hunt by Torchlight

Chapter Six “Cast Away.”

Chapter Seven. A Bridge of Buckskin

Chapter Eight. Decoying the “Goats.”

Chapter Nine. A “Partridge Dance.”

Chapter Ten. Basil and the Bison-Bull

Chapter Eleven. Three Curious Trees

Chapter Twelve. How to build a Bark Canoe

Chapter Thirteen. The Chain of Lakes

Chapter Fourteen. Wapiti, Wolves, and Wolverene

Chapter Fifteen. A Pair of Deep Divers

Chapter Sixteen. A Grand Sunday Dinner

Chapter Seventeen. The Marmots of America

Chapter Eighteen. The Blaireau, The “Tawnies,” and the “Leopards.”

Chapter Nineteen. An odd sort of Decoy-Duck

Chapter Twenty. The Ducks of America

Chapter Twenty One. The Shrike and the Humming-Birds

Chapter Twenty Two. The Fish-Hawk

Chapter Twenty Three. The Osprey and his Tyrant

Chapter Twenty Four. The Voyage Interrupted

Chapter Twenty Five. Fishing under the Ice

Chapter Twenty Six. An Odd Alarm

Chapter Twenty Seven. Encounter with a Moose

Chapter Twenty Eight. Life in a Log-Hut

Chapter Twenty Nine. Travelling on Snow-Shoes

Chapter Thirty. The Barren Grounds

Chapter Thirty One. The Rock-Tripe

Chapter Thirty Two. The Polar Hare and Great Snowy Owl

Chapter Thirty Three. The Jumping Mouse and the Ermine

Chapter Thirty Four. The Arctic Fox and White Wolf

Chapter Thirty Five. The Jerfalcon and the White Grouse

Chapter Thirty Six. The Hare, the Lynx, and the Golden Eagle

Chapter Thirty Seven. The “Alarm Bird” and the Caribou

Chapter Thirty Eight. A Battle with Wolves

Chapter Thirty Nine. End of the “Voyage.”

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There is a canoe upon the waters of Red River – Red River of the north. It is near the source of the stream, but passing downward. It is a small canoe, a frail structure of birch-bark, and contains only four persons. They are all young – the eldest of them evidently not over nineteen years of age, and the youngest about fifteen.

The eldest is nearly full-grown, though his body and limbs have not yet assumed the muscular development of manhood. His complexion is dark, nearly olive. His hair is jet-black, straight as an Indian’s, and long. His eyes are large and brilliant, and his features prominent. His countenance expresses courage, and his well-set jaws betoken firmness and resolution. He does not belie his looks, for he possesses these qualifications in a high degree. There is a gravity in his manner, somewhat rare in one so young; yet it is not the result of a morose disposition, but a subdued temperament produced by modesty, good sense, and much experience. Neither has it the air of stupidity. No: you could easily tell that the mind of this youth, if once roused, would exhibit both energy and alertness. His quiet manner has a far different expression. It is an air of coolness and confidence, which tells you he has met with dangers in the past, and would not fear to encounter them again. It is an expression peculiar, I think, to the hunters of the “Far West,” – those men who dwell amidst dangers in the wild regions of the great prairies. Their solitary mode of life begets this expression. They are often for months without the company of a creature with whom they may converse – months without beholding a human face. They live alone with Nature, surrounded by her majestic forms. These awe them into habits of silence. Such was in point of fact the case with the youth whom we have been describing. He had hunted much, though not as a professional hunter. With him the chase had been followed merely as a pastime; but its pursuit had brought him into situations of peril, and in contact with Nature in her wild solitudes. Young as he was, he had journeyed over the grand prairies, and through the pathless forests of the West. He had slain the bear and the buffalo, the wild-cat and the cougar. These experiences had made their impression upon his mind, and stamped his countenance with that air of gravity we have noticed.

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The youth, himself, might be termed handsome. Perhaps he did not possess the youthful beauty of François, 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.”

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