CARLSON'S WINTER DOG-SLED EXPEDITION 



ney, and at two o'clock in the afternoon the site 

 of the summer camp of the Eskimo caribou hunt- 

 ers was reached. Leaving this lake behind, other 

 difficult places in the river bed were met with, and 

 between three o'clock and five only about two miles 

 were covered. Camp was made at seven o'clock, 

 but this time on the bare ground instead of on 

 the sleds. It had been a hard day and all hands 

 were fast asleep by nine o'clock. Carlson was up 

 at midnight and found the temperature had risen 

 to 39°F. 



By six-thirty next morning, March 5, the break- 

 fast was over and the start made. The traveling 

 now became very difficult and for the first two 

 hours hardly a half mile was made. Not even a 

 trace of snow was on the ground, and the warm 

 southeast foehn wind which had come during the 

 night melted such small snowdrifts as there had 

 been in open spots on the river-ice and these drifts 

 were now puddles of water. 



The mercury in the thermometer stands now at 

 40°F. Where the river-ice is not covered with 

 water, the surface is glassy smooth and it is next 

 to impossible for the dogs to get traction, and it is 

 equally difficult for the men shod as they are with 

 kamiks to make any headway. 



Carlson had been following the shore line of 



333 



