21 



conductor of heat, and thus retained all the body heat even with the 

 thermometer far below zero. 



The return journey from Lake St. John to Mistassini was com- 

 menced April 9th. Mr. J. M. Macoun and 6 men accompanied me. 

 As the season was now getting late, the toboggans used in the winter 

 were exchanged for low sleds shod with mill saws, the teeth of which 

 were removed. This change was made on account of the soft snows in 

 the spring sticking to the wooden bottoms of the toboggans and rendering 

 them exceedingly heavy to draw ; the higher sleigh also protecting the 

 goods on them from the water lying upon the ice of the rivers and lakes. 



The route followed by the party this time, was up the Ashouap- 

 mouchouaa river to its head on the height of land, 50 miles westward of 

 Mistassini, thence over the ice of three large lakes, Obatagoman, Chi- 

 bougamou and Wahwaniche into the southern part of Mistassini. 



The travelling at this time of the year was simply delightful. A 

 start was made at break of day, breakfast being over and everything 

 packed in readiness before that time. The cold during the night freezing 

 the snow, melted by the sun's rays on the previous day, formed a hard 

 crust everywhere, over which we travelled without snowshoes unti^ 

 dinner time between 8 and 9 o'clock. After this the sun softened the 

 crust and snowshoes were worn, the walking becoming heavier and 

 heavier until about 12 o'clock when the crust was wholly melted and 

 all travelling impossible. Then camp was made and supper eaten, after 

 which everybody went to bed to rise between 1 and 2 a.m. In this way 

 the Hudson Bay post was reached April 29th. The only adventure was 

 an involuntary three days' fast, owing to a period of soft weather setting 

 in before reaching the post, rendering travel impossibly and causing our 

 estimated quantity of provisions to fall short by that amount. At this 

 time four of the men walked sixty miles in forty hours without a bite 

 to eat, which shows the enduraace of these indian and half-breed 

 hunters. 



From April 29th to May 28th, a period of enforced inaction 

 occurred owing to the breaking up of winter. 



On May 24th the thermometer registered 80° in the shade, the 

 highest temperature recorded during the summer, and we experienced 

 the novel sensation of floating about on ice floes in the morning, bath- 



