i88 ON SNOW-SHOES TO THE BARREN GROUNDS 



general character of the country becomes more rolling. 

 The rocks are always in evidence, but the furrows have 

 broadened to valleys, and the ridges lost their sharpness 

 and gained in height. Still, the little sharp ridges and 

 furrows never disappear entirely. One day you may see 

 them only here and there ; on another probably every ele- 

 vation will reveal them. To a larger or smaller extent 

 they are scattered through all that part of the Barrens I 

 travelled over, and are the most likely musk-ox grounds, 

 because of the moss and lichens that cling to the rocks, 

 and are the easier gathered. The " little sticks " are pine 

 or juniper, from three to eight feet high, that in small 

 patches are scattered I do not know how many miles 

 apart, but I can give an idea by saying that during the 

 day of thirty-five to forty miles' travel on the course we 

 pursued we came upon probably a couple of these clumps 

 each day of the two and a half we spent crossing the Land 

 of Little Sticks. Each night we camped where the bushes 

 grew into smallish trees, and covered probably half an acre. 

 But between these patches nothing inflammable showed 

 above the snow not even a twig. 



As we worked our way due north, travelling by the sun 





A PIPE IN THE LAND OF LITTLE STICKS 

 From a Photograph by the author 



