38 EXPLORATIONS IN THE FAR NORTH 



such circumstances, as it all usually resulted in a request for a 

 "present" of tea and tobacco. I promised to pay for the arti- 

 cles received when I returned to the store, and then his scheme 

 was disclosed, showing that his faith in Pauguk had less to do 

 with the disposal of the pipe than had his appetite for butter 

 and milk. He was allowed to live at the Narrows by special 

 permission, and received his annuity at Chemawawin. He 

 wished me to write a letter to the Indian agent in Winnipeg 

 asking for two cows to be kept at the Narrows. The letter was 

 written when I reached the city, but, I fear, with less diplomatic 

 skill in its composition than the old man would have displayed. 



Ooskanatchet had a family of four boys on whom he had 

 bestowed peculiar names, perhaps with a desire to advertise his 

 medicine "business." Ammogabo, or Aleck, the best moose 

 hunter in the country, was the oldest. Another was called 

 Owatches, or child; a third, Kemootisk, Thief, and the last bore 

 the suggestive name of Wihtigoosis, Little Cannibal or Little 

 Devil. 



Sturgeon were abundant in the lake before his door, and the 

 swift current prevented the ice from forming for any length of 

 time in the river channel, so that nets could be set during the 

 winter. The surrounding forest contained caribou and moose, 

 and a few fur bearing animals, by trapping which, and by the 

 sale of sturgeon and moose meat, they lived very comfortably. 

 I tried to engage Aleck for the trip to the Far North, but his 

 father and mother were afraid that their food supply would fail 

 if that faithful provider left them. They could not comprehend 

 the fact that I would arrange to have regular rations given them 

 at the post. They were also afraid of the influence evil spirits 

 in strange lands might have upon their boy, though Aleck him- 

 self was quite willing to go. 



In returning to the post next day we had to cross the river 

 where the current had worn the ice very thin. The ominous 

 gurgle from the hummocks of snow and the black patches of 

 open water showed the dangerous character of the frail bridge, 

 half a mile in length. We were accompanied by the Thief, who 

 was on his way to the post with a sled loaded with sturgeon. 

 Antoine could not think of traveling for four hours without 

 "boiling the kettle," so we stopped and melted snow for tea 

 and fried a little bacon. The Thief had brought his kettle of 



