The Arctic Prairies

July 19.-I got up at 4, talked strong talk, so actually got away at 5:30. Plenty grumbling, many meals to-day, with many black looks and occasional remarks in English: "Grub no good." Three days ago these men were starving on one meal a day; now they have bacon, dried venison, fresh fish, fresh game, potatoes, flour, baking powder, tea, coffee, milk sugar... To day they made 6 meals and 17 miles-this is magnificent. -from "The Voyage Across the Lake" In 1907, Ernest Thompson Seton, self-made outdoorsman, embarked upon a 2,000-mile, six-month canoe journey across northern Canada in search of the caribou. What he found was lazy Indian guides, swarms of mosquitoes, and frontier characters galore... as well as abundant wildlife, lush vegetation, and singular experiences such as hunting buffalo and acting as medicine man in remote villages, all of which he shares with us with a dogged spirit and an unflagging enthusiasm. Illustrated with dozens of Seton's charming line drawings and numerous photos of lost places and a time now almost forgotten, this is a hearty, real-life adventure yarn to appeal to the little boy in all of us. Writer and self-trained naturalist, ERNEST THOMPSON SETON (1860-1946) was born in Scotland and emigrated to Canada as a child. He helped found the Boy Scouts of America and wrote dozens of books extolling wildlife and the natural world, including his most famous and enduring work, Wild Animals I Have Known (1898), a novel.