WINTER TRAVEL 



89 



to the end of the Northern Arm of the Great Slave Lake, 

 whence a channel, a hundred yards in width, called Willow- 

 River, continues for half a mile before expanding into a small 

 lake extending toward the northeast and connecting by a num- 

 ber of "schnys" with Lac Brochet. Following the eastern 

 shore of the small lake, we crossed a short portage and, trav- 

 ersing a narrow channel for a couple of miles, reached Sa-ka- 

 to n Tu', the Lake of the Bear's Shoulder. This body of water 

 must exceed twenty-five miles in length. 



We did not succeed in overtaking Tenony, but encamped 

 near the end of the lake with an Indian, who, with his ten year 

 old son and three miserable giddes, was also in quest of the 

 caribou. He carried a powder horn differing from any that I 

 saw in the North. It was made by boring or burning out a 

 section of the beam of a caribou's antler. He would smilingly 

 beg for tea and tobacco, not becoming in the least disheartened 

 by repeated refusals. I was glad to escape his importunities 

 by leaving camp at 4 a. m. The brisk trot of our well-fed team 

 soon carried us out of reach of the yells of the giddes as the 

 lash was unsparingly applied in his efforts to keep up with the 

 "Mollah" who had such quantities of u lee tea" and "tobah." 

 Passing a couple of miles of short portages we reached another 

 large lake, called by the Dog Ribs, Kwem-ta Tu', the Lake of 

 the White Rock, where we found Tenony encamped. 



The Indians had been aroused by their dogs greeting our 

 approach with barks and howls, and were huddled behind a 

 roaring fire with their blankets, once white, now a dirty gray, 

 thrown over their shoulders, their hands outstretched toward 

 the welcome blaze, while they guarded the few frozen fish which 

 were thawing and burning at their feet. Behind them a con- 

 fused mass of dog harness, wrappers, and flat sleds formed a 

 barrier to keep out a score or more of giddes, which were 

 •crowding about the camp and fighting for an advantageous posi- 

 tion from which to watch for the few bones that escaped their 

 master's teeth. After drinking tea, we followed the lake shore 

 toward the northwest, where a range of granite hills, called 

 Sah-me-t' ie-kfwa, (Petitot) rose high above the general level 

 of the somewhat rugged country about them. When close to 

 the hills, we discovered a small band of caribou, toward which 

 the dogs started at their best pace, barking and straining at 



