WINTER TRAVEL 



107 



Each evening the watchman's whistle at the storehouse 

 called some member of the families of the two engaged serv- 

 ants, to receive the rations for the following day. These were 

 called their "pret" and " giving out prct" was the principal 

 event of the day. At some of the posts the servants are sum- 

 moned for rations by a bell or by a gong, but whatever the sig- 

 nal it is promptly obeyed. A laborer's ration is four fresh fish 

 a day, or four pounds of half-dry, or three pounds of dried 

 caribou meat; one and one-half pounds of tea, and two pounds 

 of negro-head tobacco each month; forty pounds of white 

 pressed sugar, and one hundred pounds of flour each year. The 

 wife gets a half ration and a considerable quantity is usually 

 given for the maintenance of the family, which often contains 

 six or more children, averaging nearly twice the number which 

 the Indian family contains. 



