"He was not hired," he said, "to chop wood." "Ah! for what, then, were you hired ?" "To steer a boat." "Very well; steer a boat, then, since you prefer it." It was mid-winter.

The recusant was marched to the river-side, and placed in the stern of the boat, which lay fastened in the ice.
After serving a couple of hours at his legitimate employment, with the thermometer below zero, he was quite content to take his place with the chopping-party, and never again thought it good policy to choose work for himself.
There is an aristocracy in the voyageur service which is quite amusing.
The engagement is usually made for three years.

The engage of the first year, who is called a "_mangeur-de-lard_," or pork-eater, is looked down upon with the most sovereign contempt by an "_hivernant_," or one who has already passed a winter in the country.

He will not only not associate with him, but if invited by him to join him in a friendly glass, he will make some excuse for declining.

The most inveterate drunkard, while tortured by a longing to partake his favorite indulgence, will yet never suffer himself to be enticed into an infringement of this custom.
After the first winter, the _mangeur-de-lard_ rises from his freshman class, and takes his place where he can in turn lord it over all new-comers.
Another peculiarity of the voyageurs is their fancy for transforming the names of their bourgeois into something funny, which resembles it in sound.