CHAPTER XVIII. 



CROSSING THE NELSON. 



ON the morning of the llth of November our parties 

 arranged to separate. The route of Mr. Matheson's 

 party henceforth lay away to the eastward, while our 

 path still led to the south, toward the banks of the 

 Nelson River. A place was prepared on our own dog- 

 sled for crippled Michel; the team of six dogs was 

 harnessed, and the flat sleds, including one for Eli, the 

 .son of old William the Indian, were loaded with all that 

 the dogs were unable to haul. Our supplies by this 

 time were diminished to the extent of about two hundred 

 and fifty pounds, so that, even with the additional weight 

 of a man, the loads were lighter than at the outset of the 

 journey. 



Loads being thus readjusted, and our feet harnessed 

 to snowshoes, we bade farewell to our friends from the 

 Fort, as well as to those of the forest, and made a new 

 start. 



The weather was now unusually mild for the month 

 of November, making the snow soft, and even wet in 

 some places. This made travelling hard for the team, as 

 it caused the ice glazing to melt from the sled, and the 

 mud shoeing to wear and drag heavily upon the track. 

 My brother and I still suffered much from our crippled 



