248 My Dogs in the Northland 



could be secured for love or money. The 

 only possible exception to this rule was 

 when we were so fortunate as to cross the 

 trail of a hunter who might have been lucky 

 enough to have just shot a moose or a rein- 

 deer. Then we might be able to purchase 

 some venison. But even that meant giving 

 in exchange supplies from our sleds, as all 

 bargains were by barter; so we really were 

 not much better off. 



Our loads were of a most miscellaneous 

 character. The supplies of food for our- 

 selves and the fish for our dogs generally 

 constituted the heaviest part, For cooking 

 our food and making tea for all, we had a 

 supply of kettles as well as a quantity of 

 unbreakable dishes. Then there were our 

 axes, of which we had to take a liberal sup- 

 ply, as we were continually breaking them 

 on account of the intense frost, making the 

 steel almost as brittle as glass. Some guns 

 and ammunition were also in our loads al- 

 though not nearly as much as on a summer 

 trip. Then we would expect to find suffi- 

 cient game to keep our pot boiling, but now 

 in this bitter winter weather there was but 

 little game. So our guns were more car- 

 ried now, as a precautionary measure 



