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216 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 
him and our Canadian companions as to the qua- 
lifications of their respective dogs. This, how- 
ever, is such a general topic of conversation 
among the voyagers in the encampment, that we 
should not probably have remarked it, had not 
the old man frequently offered tc bet the whole of 
his wages that his two dogs, poor and lean ‘as 
they were, would drag their load to the Athabasca 
Lake in less time than any three of theirs could. 
Having expressed our surprise at his apparent 
temerity, he coolly said the men from the lower 
countries did not understand the management of 
their dogs, and that he depended on his superior 
skill in driving ; and we soon gathered from his 
remarks, that the voyagers of the Athabasca de- . 
partment consider themselves as very superior to 
any other. The only reasons which he could 
assign were, that they had borne their burdens 
across the terrible Methye Portage, and that they 
were accustomed to live harder and more pre- 
cariously, 
March 25.—Having now the guidance of the 
old Canadian, we sent forward the Indian, and 
one of our men, with letters to the gentleman at 
the Athabasca Lake. The rest of the party set 
off afterwards, and kept along the river until ten, 
when we branched off by portages into the Em- 
barras River, the usual channel of communi¢ation 
