E-text prepared by Mardi Desjardins
and the online Distributed Proofreaders Canada team
(http://www.pgdpcanada.net)
KASBA
(White Partridge)
A Story of Hudson Bay
BY
George R. Ray, M.P.P.
AUTHOR’S EDITION
Printed by
WILLIAM BRIGGS
Toronto, 1915
Copyright, Canada, 1915
By GEORGE R. RAY.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
I have always regarded the writing of prefaces tobe, for the most part, work thrown away; nevertheless,I am tempted to prefix a few words to this novel,in the form of a note, in order to defend myselfagainst charges which may possibly be made againstme by the critics, and to which I may be unable torevert after they shall have been preferred. It maybe said, in the first place, that all the characters inthis story speak ordinary English, which I admit.The natural language of the natives is, of course, thetongue of their race, Chipewyan or Eskimo, as thecase may be, but in order that the reader mightunderstand it, a translation was necessary. Sincethis was the case, why not have the translation ingood English, instead of in pigeon-English, which noone properly understands and which is misleadingand equally untrue to life? Then, again, my descriptionof Chesterfield Inlet may be found fault with,and with good reason, for I have written of treeswhere no trees exist. Chesterfield Inlet is in thebarren lands, as most people know. But a woodeddistrict was necessary to my plot, and in describingthe country I have changed the topography to suitthe requirements of my story. And now, as a lastword, I would assure my readers that the incidentsin this novel, though they may appear untrue to lifeand far-fetched, are nevertheless mostly made up ofmy own personal experiences and properly authenticatedstories of curious happenings to other people inthese northern regions.
—G. R. R.
“Here feel we but the penalty of Adam,
The seasons’ difference, as the icy fang
And churlish chiding of the winter’s wind,
Which, when it bites and blows upon my body
Even till I shrink with cold, I smile and say
This is no flattery: these are counsellors
That feelingly persuade me what I am.”
—“As You Like It,” Act II., Sc. I.