1 82 ON SNOW-SHOES TO THE BARREN GROUNDS 



made out that there was no meat in the lodge, which was 

 no news, as we had eaten but tea and grease for two 

 days ; that in one " sleep " i.e., by to-morrow morning 

 we should be where there were caribou ; stop there one 

 sleep, and then go on for cjeri ; meanwhile his con (fire) 

 i.e., house would be moved to the toocho (big water) z>., 

 Great Slave Lake because here where we were it was 

 bet-oolc(\\Q meat). I understood from this that his wife 

 would go to the lakes, around which the Indians always 

 settle when the caribou fail, and where she would await 

 our return, subsisting on what fish could be caught under 

 the ice or what rabbits might be snared in the woods. 



The one "sleep" did not bring us up to the caribou, 

 but it took us north to the lodge of another Indian who 

 had been more fortunate than we. Here for one day we 

 feasted and the Indians slept, and when we started on 



CUTTING LODGE-POLES OX THE EDGE OF THE TIMBER 

 From a Photograph by the author 



