CHAP. xv. RETURN TO THE CAMP. 249 



for many miles. Had there been any hope of procuring 

 caribou, rabbits, ducks, porcupine, or even a sufficient 

 supply of fish, we should not have hesitated ; but to 

 attempt to penetrate into such a country wholly 

 dependent upon the provisions which we could carry on 

 our backs, was out of the question. Even if I had been 

 sufficiently selfish to insist on the men subjecting them- 

 selves to the mere fatigue of journeying over barren 

 rocks, surrounded by treacherous moss-covered boulders 

 and succeeded by deep swamps, it is not improbable 

 that the mosquitoes and black flies would soon have 

 settled the question. The only way in which we 

 could advance was by dragging the canoes through the 

 river, whose bed was so much obstructed by large 

 stones and boulders, that we might endanger the safety of 

 our frail craft, already, with one exception, much shattered. 

 To lose our canoes would be almost equivalent to losing 

 the lives of the whole party, for it would have been 

 almost impossible for some of us in summer time to have 

 reached the coast on foot. 



In winter most of the difficulties of such a journey 

 disappear, for the road then lies over frozen lakes. 

 Caribou are more plentiful, and far more easily tracked 

 and taken ; there are no tormenting flies, and rapid 

 progress can be made. 



Soon after returning to camp, I made up my mind that 

 it would be as well to prepare to descend without delay, 

 and therefore I arrested the operations of the men, opened 

 the cache which had been made, and, after a few hours' 

 rest, we commenced our return. 



