124 ON SNOW-SHOES TO THE BARREN GROUNDS 



"Susie " and Jeremi were both much disappointed, for 

 they had confidently expected to find signs in this particular 

 section ; so the next morning, our provisions having run low, 

 McKinley, "Susie," and his Indian turned back for the 

 Landing, while Munn and I set Jeremi and Joseph to mak- 

 ing snares, determined to lay in supplies here before going 

 deeper into the bison country. Then, too, we knew two 

 sons of Jeremi's would be passing on their way to a cache 

 of dried moose meat. So we bettered our camp to pro- 

 tect us from the wind, and while our two Indians caught 

 rabbits, Munn and I chopped firewood, and smoked, and 

 drank tea. 



What truly astounding quantities of tea and tobacco 

 one consumes, and what a craving for grease one acquires 

 in this uncongenial clime ! I found the strong black plug 

 traded to the Indians a decided stimulant in the Barren 

 Grounds, where a pipe and a cup of tea constituted one's 

 bill of fare for several days at a time, and tea to be much 

 more bracing than coffee. Coffee is the alleged luxury 

 of the Northland, and only to be had at an occasional 

 Hudson's Bay Company officer's table; but grease, in 

 point of fact, is the real luxury. Only eternal vigilance 

 will save your cache, and nothing less persuasive than a 

 shot-gun rescue it from the hands of its Indian discoverer. 



We stayed in this camp "two days, and in that time snared 

 rabbits enough to last us and the dogs a week, and to fill 

 me with revulsion at the very sight of one. 



There is something peculiarly offensive in rabbit after 

 continuous diet. I have lived at one time or another 

 during my hunting experiences on one kind of game for 

 periods of varying length, but nothing ever filled me with 

 such loathing as rabbit. Indeed, it is commonly said by 

 the Indians that they " starve on rabbit," and after my 

 experience I can easily understand it ; you may eat until 



