ja 2 EXPLORATIONS IN THE FAR NORTH 



strangers. Her costume, though ultra bicyclienne, could but 

 impress one observing such an entire novelty for the first time, 

 as being becoming and sensible. Their clothing was trimmed 

 with the white-haired Asiatic reindeerskin, carcajou and wolf- 

 skin. 



The two younger children fried the bread, which had been 

 prepared for us, in a pan of seal oil over an open fire of drift- 

 wood. The cakes were of the usual Eskimo shape — oblong, and 

 perforated with three pairs of holes. As soon as this dough- 

 nut-bread was ready, we were invited into the tightly-closed 

 tent where we succeeded in eating one meal without being tor- 

 mented by the ubiquitous mosquitoes. In addition to venison 

 and bread, we were given syrup and coffee, articles quite un- 

 known in the interior; the Eskimos of that coast do not use tea. 



As we reembarked, the woman brought some venison from 

 the stage and threw into each canoe; this act of unsolicited gen- 

 erosity but completed the favorable impression which their 

 conduct had made. The Indian treatment would have begun 

 with begging for tea, and if we had been called back it would 

 have been for the purpose of begging for more tea. 



By wading and dragging our canoes for a mile, through a 

 shallow channel, we avoided a long detour around the outlying 

 reefs. The temperature of both air and water was near the 

 freezing point, and our respect for the mighty deep had changed 

 to profound disgust before we reached deeper water again. 

 We early encountered more serious detentions than those 

 caused by shoals. A north wind soon drove us ashore, where 

 we pitched our tent on low ground, with nothing but water- 

 soaked fuel to be had. The wind kept the wet logs blazing, 

 but it pierced through our winter clothing and made the half- 

 clad Loucheux wish that they were within the shelter of the 

 woods again. 



The Mackenzie brings down immense quantities of driftwood 

 that is strewn for hundreds of miles along the coast. The 

 largest logs, of spruce and rough-barked poplar, come from 

 the distant Liard. The sand beaches of the coast are literally 

 covered with the white trunks from which the bark and branches 

 have been worn. 



The volume of water poured out by the Mackenzie is suffi- 

 cient to keep the sea fresh and clear of ice for many miles. As 



