FROM CHIPEWYAN TO FORT SMITH 



many bends gave heart to reach the point beyond, while 

 when I came upon a long stretch the bare work of run- 

 ning stared me in the face, and the distance seemed 

 doubled. We really made very good time, and arrived at 

 Fort Smith on the morning of the 2/th, having been 

 three days and two hours doing the 118 miles. 



Though prepared for a cordial reception at the post, 

 since McKinley's big heart and helping hand are known 

 from end to end of the Northland, the heartiness of my 

 welcome and the solicitude for my condition quite over- 

 powered me. To one coming from the pulsing city, 

 where it is " every man for himself, and the devil take 

 the hindmost," it is a somewhat curious sensation to have 

 strangers that know you but in the passing take such in- 

 terest in your movements and exhibit concern for your 

 comfort. 



I was soon sitting in McKinley's unpretentious cabin, 

 with the water he had brought soothing my swollen feet, 

 and the tea his wife had brewed warming me. When 

 I was refreshed, McKinley made me lie 

 down, and then we talked of my proposed 

 hunt for musk-oxen. He reiterated the 

 assurances I had received ever since starting 

 that I could not get into the Barrens in 

 midwinter and get out again. He doubted 

 whether I could induce Indians to make the 

 attempt for love or money, but as I was 

 bent on the effort, advised me to try to se- 

 cure Beniah, a Dog-Rib leader, and one of 

 the best hunters and most courageous Ind- 

 ians in the country. He said none of the 

 Indians would be at Slave Lake at this time, 

 and that the only sure way of getting into communication 

 with them was by sending a runner to Resolution with a 



CHIPEWYAN 



TRIPPING-SHOE, 



3 feet long 



