The Provision Qiiestion 33 



and the activity out of my muscles. I was physi- 

 cally in magnificent shape, for I had spent a 

 couple of weeks at Fort Resolution, on Great 

 Slave Lake, and what with plenty of caribou 

 meat and a daily run of from ten to twenty miles 

 on snow-shoes by way of keeping in training, I 

 was about as fit as I have been at any time in 

 my life. Therefore the severe struggle with the 

 wind impressed me the more. But the novelty 

 wore off in a couple of weeks, and though the 

 conditions were always trying, they became more 

 endurable as I grew accustomed to the daily 

 combat. 



One of the first lessons I learned was to keep 

 my face free from covering, and also as clean 

 shaven as was possible under such circumstances. 

 It makes me smile now to remember the elaborate 

 hood arrangement which was knitted for me in 

 Canada, and that then seemed to me one of 

 the most important articles of my equipment. 

 It covered the entire head, ears, and neck, with 

 openings only for eyes and mouth, and in 

 town I had viewed it as a great find ; but I 

 threw it away before I got within a thousand 

 miles of the Barren Grounds. The reason is 

 obvious : my breath turned the front of the hood 



