PASSAGE OF PELTRIES TO ENGLAND. 397 



bound with stout thongs of hide, called pack-cord, 

 which in the not unfrequent periods of distress for 

 food is generally the first substitute for more legitimate 

 aliment, as by long boiling it acquires a jelly-like 

 consistence. 



During the winter they are transported on sledges — 

 a service of a severe nature — to the nearest post from 

 which water carriage can be made available ; and on 

 the breaking up of the ice in the spring are placed in 

 large boats, of precisely the same make as that (the 

 " Try Again") which we had on our second trip to the 

 Arctic sea, and which will carry as many as 110 

 " pieces " or " packs," nearly ten thousand pounds 

 weight, but their general load, where the travel is 

 bad, is, I believe, from seventy to eighty pieces. 

 These boats are manned with nine, seven, or even 

 five men, and it will presently be seen that the 

 poor fellows work like horses ^indeed I unhesitatingly 

 assert that I never saw toil to equal, for endurance 

 and severity, that of the Hudson's Bay Company's 

 servants during the summer season. From two in 

 the morning until eight or nine, and often later, at 

 night they are engaged in the most fatiguing labour, 

 only halting for a short time to breakfast, and supping 

 when they land at night, taking a snack of pemmican 

 as they can catch it during the progress of the boat. 



