WINTER TRAVEL IOI 



the old wife with rations, they must be such as were used at 

 the post; she must have flour and bacon. A woman usually 

 receives a half ration, which is more than an ordinary white 

 man would eat. Francois thought that fifty pounds of flour 

 and twenty-five of bacon would perhaps keep her from actual 

 starvation for the next fifteen days, but for fear it would not, 

 he wanted another week to hunt moose so that she could have 

 some fresh meat. It was really touching to see how solicitous 

 he was for the welfare of his childless spouse. He then left 

 the post, telling the interpreter to have me bring plenty of tea 

 and tobacco. I took every pound of meat and flour that I 

 could purchase at the store, from the mission, and the free 

 trader, and then did not have enough. 



On the 8th I went to his house at the mouth of little Buffalo 

 River, and found, as I had expected, that he had not gone to 

 hunt moose, but had asked for delay in order that sufficient 

 time might elapse before again visiting his traps which were 

 upon our route. When I reached the house, the old wife 

 wanted tea and tobacco. I had brought compressed tea, for 

 convenience in carrying; this did not suit their cultivated tastes. 

 They were "thinking long" for meat, and would I not give 

 them a supper from the scanty stock on my sled? Could I not 

 give her some more sugar? The men would require plenty of 

 matches, and could I not spare her a few boxes also? Francois 

 was quite right in making as good a bargain as possible, but 

 he was not so unsophisticated as his ancestors, who would have 

 served me for the sake of the extra buttons on my capote and 

 perhaps one cup of tea on the trip. I purchased here ten 

 sticks of the smallest whitefish that I saw anywhere in the 

 country. They had been caught in the Little Buffalo River, 

 and did not exceed one pound each in weight. I left eight fish 

 for my dogs on the return trip; these were stolen during my 

 absence. 



We started at 9 a. m., January 9th, and followed the river for 

 perhaps eight miles. Its course is remarkably straight for that 

 of a small stream flowing through a low alluvial plain. It is 

 sometimes used as a canoe route to Fort Smith, a portage 

 being made into the Slave River. Henri said that its water 

 was brackish, owing to the salt springs near its source. 

 It is mapped as a single, unbranched stream, but it is formed 



