CHAPTER XVII. 



ON SNOW SHOES AND DOG-SLEDV. 



ON the morning of the 6th of November, after a 

 stay of seventeen days at Fort Churchill, we were 

 again ready to set out for the south. Our team con- 

 sisted of six Eskimo dogs, attached tandem fashion to a 

 sled twelve feet long and a foot and a half wide. This 

 sled was of the regular Eskimo type, the runners being 

 formed of sticks hewn down to the dimensions of about 

 two inches by six inches, and slightly curved up in front. 



Upon the sled was loaded about six hundred pounds 

 of provisions, dog-meat, blankets and other dunnage, 

 all securely lashed on within a canvas wrapper. The 

 driver who had charge of the team was a tall young 

 half-breed, named Arthur Omen. Our guide, whose 

 name was " Jimmie " Westasecot, was a large fine- 

 looking Creo Indian, of about middle age, who bore 

 the distinction of being the most famous hunter and 

 traveller in all that country. 



The party consisted of ten. My brother and I were 

 warmly dressed in deer-skin garbs of the Eskimo, while 

 the rest of the party wore the white blanket suits of the 

 traders, and with the exception of poor Michel, whose 

 feet were still too sore to allow him to walk, each man 



