88 THE FUR COUNTRY, " Yes, Mac-Nab," replied Hobson ; " we must collect the shells, grind them, burn the;n, and make them into lime, then mould the lime into bricks, and use them in the same way." " Let us try the shells, by all means," replied the carpenter ; and so the idea was put in practice at once, and many tons collected of calcareous shells identical with those found in the lowest stratum of the Tertiary formations. A furnace was constructed for the decomposition of the carbonate which is so large an ingredient of these shells, and thus the lime required was obtained in the space of a few hours. It would perhaps be too much to say that the substance thus made was as entirely satisfactory as if it had gone through all the usual processes ; but it answered its purpose, and strong conical chimneys soon adorned the roof, to the great satisfaction of Mrs Paulina Barnett, who congratulated the originator of the scheme warmly on its success, only adding laughingly, that she hoped the chimneys would not smoke. " Of course they will smoke, madam," replied Hobson coolly ; " all chimneys do ! " All this was finished within a month, and on the 6th of August they were to take possession of the new house. While Mac-Nab and his men were working so hard, the foraging party, with the Lieutenant at its head, had been exploring the environs of Cape Bathurst, and satisfied themselves that there would be no difficulty in supplying the Company's demands for fur and feathers, so soon- as they could set about hunting in earnest. In the meantime they prepared the way for future sport, content- ing themselves for the present with the capture of a few couples of reindeer, which they intended to domesticate for the sake of their milk and their young. They were kept in a paddock about fifty yards from the house, and entrusted to the care of Mac-Nab's wife, an Indian woman, well qualified to take charge of them. The care of the household fell to Mrs Paulina Barnett, and this good woman, with Madge's help, was invaluable in providing for all the small wants, which would inevitably have escaped the notice of the men. After scouring the country within a radius of several miles, the Lieutenant notified, as the result of his observations, that the terri- tory on which they had established themselves, and to which he gave the name of Victoria Land, was a large peninsula about one
