"Do you remember your experiences in prospecting for iron ore in the mountains?" asked the Chief, who was one of Mac's warmest friends and admirers.
"I had been in Canada only a few months," he said, "when I happened to hear from various sources that mountains of iron ore existed in the range north of Hull, and the Chief, MacKay, Colonel By, and I secured a guide, and took our way on horseback through the forest to inspect the said ore bed that had hindered the magnetic needle of many a surveyor's compass from traversing properly. We mounted at the Columbian hotel and away we went, our guide having provisions, axes, hammers, etc., in a bag on the saddle with him. Having cantered away several miles through cleared land, we began to enter the wilderness, and, as I am no great horseman, I soon found my eyes and nose beginning to be scratched off from the brushwood lashing and rubbing against them, and soon, alas! I found myself comfortably landed on my back on the trunk of an old tree that had fallen many years ago.
"On looking round I saw my quiet pony thinking for a wonder what had become of me, one of his forefeet having trod out the crown of a good new thirty shilling hat I had bought in London.
"My companions gathered round, but could not prevail on me to mount again; the guide led the horse, and I trudged along on foot. Getting rather weary, however, and seeing the comparatively easy manner in which my friends got along, in spite of the thick brushwood and old trees that lay stretched over one another at all angles, I mounted again, but soon found it almost impossible to follow my companions without getting myself bruised in all quarters, and possibly some of my bones broken.
"They had got about one hundred yards before me, and halloed to me to follow. I exerted myself to the utmost, but one of my legs getting into the cleft of a small tree, I was thrown off the horse's back and left among the briars again. Bawling out, they waited until I came up. None of them but Mr. MacKay, as good a Scotchman as lives, laughed, and I was almost inclined to fling my boot at him. Being a good horseman, and used to the rough roads of Canada, he could keep his seat in the saddle in a way, but the skin of his legs was partly peeled like my own, and his clothes torn in various places.
"After travelling a great way we got to a stream which the guide said had its origin in the iron mountain. Proceeding up the stream to its source, we at last came upon the famous ore-bed, but through excessive fatigue, after having taken a little refreshment, I fell asleep, as did all my companions but one, the enterprising Lord of the Manor of Hull, Indian Chief, Colonel of the 2nd Battalion, etc., etc. Even Colonel By, with bone and muscle and sinew like wrought-iron, who can endure anything and eat anything, even to raw pork, was fagged out, and slept like the rest of us.
"The Chief kindly left us undisturbed for an hour, when he roused us. Traversing these wild mountains in all directions, we were much pleased with the immense specimens of iron ore that appeared everywhere. Mr. MacKay wielded the hammer with masonic skill, and laid the rich ore-beds open to inspection. At one place the mountains are not more than two miles from the first falls of the Gatineau, where machinery and engines could be erected at moderate rate, as water-power may be had to any extent from the falls. We found an abundance of hardwood, particularly maple, which makes the best charcoal of any. We concluded that this was the best place for iron works in Canada.
"We at length thought of returning to the hotel. Night came on, and in the forenoon of the next day I found myself alive at the Falls of the Chaudiere. The troubles I had undergone were amply repaid. My bruises recovered, the skin came over my arms and legs, but I shall never try to explore the wilds of Canada on horseback again."
"Have you ever tried the experiment, Mr. McNab?" asked the good-natured Scotchman.
"Sir," he replied, disdainfully, "I thought you had known better. Nothing but McNab, if you please—'Mr.' does not belong to me."