THROUGH THE FOREST AND HOME AGAIN. 247 



Keeping as straight a course as we could, we pressed 

 011 through the darkness toward the distant shore, the 

 dark outline of which could just be discerned against 

 the lighter sky. At length we reached the shore, when, 

 after passing through a narrow strip of woods, to our 

 joy there suddenly flashed out before us, a few yards 

 ahead, the lights of Oxford House. A few minutes later 

 we were the guests of Mr. and Mrs. Isbister, one of the 

 most hospitable old couples it has ever been my good 

 fortune to meet. Mr. Isbister was the local agent of the 

 Hudson's Bay Company, and was a thorough old-time 

 Canadian, one of those men filled with reminiscences of 

 early Canadian life in the north and whose many stories 

 were a delight to hear. 



Having reached Oxford in safety, preparations were 

 at once commenced for our journey to the next post 

 Norway House 150 miles farther west. Some delay 

 was occasioned in getting dogs, but at length three 

 miserable half-starved teams were secured, and with a 

 new guide and drivers we set out on the third stage 

 of our winter journey. Without narrating the many 

 incidents by the way, I need only say that after a six 

 days' tramp, with the thermometer in the neighborhood 

 of 40 degrees below zero, we arrived safely at Norway 

 House, an important Hudson's Bay Company's post, situ- 

 ated at the northern extremity of Lake Winnipeg. Two 

 of the dog-teams procured at Oxford had been intended 

 to haul my brother and myself, and for a time they did 

 so, but the poor animals were in such a wretched con-: 

 dition from the effects of former hard work that we 

 preferred to walk most of the time, and before we 



