9 6 



EXPLORATIONS IN THE FAR NORTH 



ing-bag made of woodland caribouskin, which I had brought 

 from Iowa City. I afterward found that the light Barren 

 Ground caribouskin robes, such as the natives used, were 

 lighter, warmer, and a great deal more convenient. I started 

 from Rae with two double blankets, but left one pair at Reso- 

 lution. On the musk-ox trip I used a single blanket, and dur- 

 ing the last week gave that away and used the robe alone — and 

 slept about as comfortably as when I had the sleeping-bag and 

 four blankets! 



Our first day's travel was up the Mackenzie where we experi- 

 enced some difficulty in finding sufficient fuel, the dry timber 

 having been used by the many trippers hauling fish from Big 

 Island to Providence. We reached Hay River on the third 

 day, where we spent the night at the house of Mr. T. J. Marsh, 

 one of the most self-sacrificing of northern missionaries. With 

 no companion save a Scotch servant, who has since been 

 ordered elsewhere, he is devoting his life to the little band of 

 Chippewyans who have built cabins at the mouth of the river, 

 upon the site of an old trading post. When he first went 

 among them they demanded exorbitant wages for their services, 

 but their attitude changed to one of respect when they found 

 him quite able to do without their assistance. With the aid of 

 his servant he attended to his nets, cut and hauled the logs, 

 built a dwelling house, and at the time of my visit had a large 

 church building nearly completed. The natives were inde- 

 pendent, owing to the excellent fishery before their settlement; 

 the long continued coaxing and wheedling of the traders had 

 made them impudent. They were dressed in capotes woven 

 from strips of hareskin. The round-cheeked and grimy young- 

 sters^appeared to be warm and happy in their single thick and 

 fluffy combination garment. 



Mr. Marsh spent the night in writing letters. He accom- 

 panied us a few miles the next morning, and as we parted at 

 daybreak, I felt as if I were saying farewell to the friend of 

 years instead of to an acquaintance of an hour. We reached 

 Buffalo River that evening, where we passed the night in the 

 single cabin which had been built there by a Chippewyan chief. 

 It was the largest and cleanest that I ever saw occupied by 

 either metis or Indian. 



We failed to reach our destination on the fifth day owing to 



