148 JOURNEY T0 THE SHORES 
‘* Sledges are made of two or three flat boards, 
curving upwards in front, and fastened together 
by transverse pieces of wood above. They are 
so thin that, if heavily laden, they bend with the 
inequalities of the surface over which they pass. 
The ordinary dog-sledges are eight or ten feet 
long, and very narrow, but the lading is secured 
to a lacing round the edges. The cariole used 
by the traders is merely a covering of leather for 
the lower part of the body, affixed to the common 
sledge, which is painted and ornamented accord’ 
ing to the taste of the proprietor. Besides snow 
shoes, each individual carries his blanket, hatchet, 
steel, flint, and tinder, and generally fire-arms.” - 
The general dress of the winter traveller is a 
capot, having a hood to put up under the fur cap 
in windy weather, or in the woods, to keep the 
snow from his neck; leathern trowsers and Indian 
stockings, which are closed at the ankles, round 
the upper part of his mocassins, or Indian shoes, 
to prevent the snow from getting into them. 
Over these he wears a blanket, or leathern coat, 
which is secured by a belt round his waist, to 
which his fire-bag, knife, and hatchet are sus- 
pended. 
Mr. Back and I were accompanied by the sea 
man, John Hepburn; we were provided with two 
carioles and two sledges: and their drivers and — 
