162 THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE BY LAND. 



mican, a sack of flour, a small cliest of tea, and, 

 above all, letters from home. How eagerly we seized 

 them, and how often we read and re-read them need 

 hardly be told. We made a feast in honour of the 

 arrival ; pancakes were fried in profusion, and 

 Ijzettleful after kettleful of tea prepared. The latter 

 we had not tasted for many days, the former not for 

 weeks. We sat up until long after midnight listen- 

 ing to La Ronde's account of his journey, and the 

 news from Red River. They had accomplished the 

 journey of 600 miles to Fort Garry in twenty-three 

 days, and, after a week's rest, set out on their return 

 on the last day of January. This and the 1st of 

 February were the two days on which Cheadle and 

 Isbister travelled from Carlton, the period of greatest 

 cold, when there was seventy degrees of frost. 



The two sleighs were laden with four sacks of 

 flour, the tea, and pemmican for themselves and the 

 dogs. The snow was so deep, that they were fre- 

 quently obliged to tread out a track twice over with 

 snow-shoes, before it was firm enough to bear the 

 dogs, who were even then only able to drag the heavy 

 sleighs by the help of the men pushing behind with 

 poles. They travelled thus slowly and laboriously 

 for some 200 miles, when the pemmican gave out, 

 and they were obliged to feed the dogs upon the 

 precious flour. 



When within two days' journey of Fort Pelley, 

 the dogs were so exhausted, that one of the sleighs 

 had to be abandoned, and one miserable animal lay 

 down to die by the road-side. Soon afterwards they 



