the early summer to trade their catch of furs, to meet old friends, and
to rest and gossip awhile before the turning leaf warns them to secure
their next winter's "advances" from the trader, and once more paddle
away to their distant hunting grounds.

The several zones of the Canadian wilderness are locally known as the
Coast Country--the shores of the Arctic Ocean and Hudson Bay; the
Barren Grounds--the treeless country between Hudson Bay and the
Mackenzie River; the Strong Woods Country--the whole of that enormous
belt of heavy timber that spans Canada from east to west; the Border
Lands--the tracts of small, scattered timber that lie between the
prairies and the northern forests; the Prairie Country; the Mountains;
and the Big Lakes. These names have been adopted by the fur traders
from the Indians. It is in the Strong Woods Country that most of the
fur-bearing animals live.


MEETING OO-KOO-HOO

About ten o'clock on the morning after our arrival at Fort Consolation,
Free Trader Spear left for home with my promise to paddle over and dine
at Spearhead next day.

At noon Factor Mackenzie informed me that he had received word that
Oo-koo-hoo--The Owl--was coming to the Fort that afternoon and that,
taking everything into consideration, he thought Oo-koo-hoo's hunting
party the best for me to join. It consisted, he said, of Oo-koo-hoo
and his wife, his daughter, and his son-in-law, Amik--The Beaver--and
Amik's five children. The Factor further added that Oo-koo-hoo was not
only one of the greatest hunters, and one of the best canoe-men in that