I0 2 EXPLORATIONS IN THE FAR NORTH 



by three creeks flowing from the southwest. The first flowed 

 in a narrow, winding channel, cut but little below the plain; 

 the second had a shallow channel, bordered by a narrow 

 marsh, which wound through a heavy forest. We followed 

 its course for a few miles to avoid cutting a trail through the 

 bush. Every few minutes the dogs turned back, whining as 

 they licked their feet, which had been wet by the water lying 

 on the ice just under the crust of snow; for the water was over- 

 flowing the ice and prevented from freezing to any extent by 

 the mineral impurities which it contained. The ice gathered 

 at each crossing on the bottoms of the sleds whence it must be 

 scraped with knife and ax before the dogs could haul the 

 heavy loads in the soft snow. The slush gathered on our moc- 

 casins and snow-shoes, and froze in a solid mass in a very few 

 minutes. I broke through the ice with one foot, but as the 

 water did not penetrate to the skin, I continued until we 

 camped for the night, with a cylinder of ice reaching to my 

 knee. The third creek, the Indians said, took its rise near 

 Buffalo Lake. It was but a few feet in width with banks about 

 twenty feet in height. 



Our course was toward the south, for two days, along Fran- 

 cois' trapping trail, where he found a few martens and a fisher 

 in his traps and a dozen hares in snares. He would not sell me 

 the fisher and deliver it to me from the trap, at the price that 

 he would receive at the post after carrying it for a week and 

 skinning and drying the pelt. 



The buffaloes were said to be found on the prairies, but these 

 were so small, compared with the wooded area, that I kept ask- 

 ing Henri if we were near the prairies yet, not considering the 

 occasional marshy meadows worthy of the name prairie. The 

 country was monotonously level and covered with innumer- 

 able "lakes." 



After leaving the trapping trail we had to cut our way through 

 the bush. Henri broke the trail with large hunting snow-shoes 

 which sank several inches in the snow, making a furrow in 

 which the dogs floundered along with their backs on a level 

 with the surface. My snow-shoes were of the smallest size, 

 which made the walking more fatiguing. I used the pushing- 

 stick on the level, and hauled on the head of the sled in ascend- 

 ing the steep banks of the ponds. As I tramped along in the 



