296 DOUBTS BY THE CARPENTERS 



them. It was late before the boat came; and 

 the men and dogs being fagged, for it was hard 

 work, we encamped. A number of mice (lem- 

 mings) were seen, and some killed. There 

 was this difference in them, that one kind had 

 long skinny ears of a lobe shape, whereas the 

 others had an orifice only. They were dis- 

 similar also in colour, and in their tails ; but 

 both fought with a half-bred terrier, and fre- 

 quently bit it. 



The morning of the 28th being fine, I obtained 

 sights which corroborated those taken the pre- 

 vious year on the same spot. Having ordered 

 every thing to be taken out of the boat prepara- 

 tory to dragging her across the portage, about a 

 quarter of a mile in breadth, to the Thlew-ee- 

 choh, my astonishment may be conceived when 

 information was brought me that the carpenters 

 would not answer for the consequences of such a 

 step, as the wood of which she was built was too 

 soft to allow of her being dragged over that or 

 any other portage. This was the first time that 

 any such notion about the quality of the wood 

 had been intimated ; for otherwise, though it 

 might have cost us incredible trouble, a different 

 and tougher kind should have been procured 

 from Fort Resolution, or even farther, had I 

 been only apprised in due season at the house ; 

 nor could I now understand the matter at all, 



