CHAPTER XVIII. 



Gastronomy. — River Ice. — Trapping. — Start for Great Bear Lake. — Cross 

 the Mackenzie on the Ice. — Felling trees to encamp. — Raising the 

 Wind. — Penetrate dense Forests. — Cross Lakes. — Cranberries, &c. — 

 Indian Hut. — Salmon Trout. — Summary ejectment. — Slave Indians. 

 — Indian Divorce. — Selling Wives. — Cannibal acquaintance. — Sir J, 

 Franklin's Hut. —Dreadful Starvation. — Eating an Orkney man. — Our 

 Hut. — An airy situation. — Occasional House-warming. — Lots of tin. — 

 Fish and fish with it. — Swamp Tea. — Aurora. — Literary destitution. — 

 Novel burial of a brother-in-law. 



Our diet, since reaching the Mackenzie, was in 

 strange contrast to Enghsh fare, or that, principally of 

 preserved meats, to which we had been accustomed in 

 the "Plover." Dried reindeer or elk-flesh, which 

 requu'ed vigorous mastication, and made the jaws 

 ache apace ; fresh goat, bear, and beaver-meat occa- 

 sionally ; and during the latter part of our stay at 

 Fort Norman, meat could only be furnished two days 

 in the week, with fish the other five ; and as the 

 latter was captured at Bear Lake in the summer and 

 fall, and remained disembowelled and intact until 

 used, it was in various stages of excellence, varying 

 from the slightly-tainted to the absolutely stinking. 



