3 02 ON SNOW-SHOES TO THE BARREN GROUNDS 



would be rather apt to punch holes faster than they could 

 be repaired in a birch-bark canoe. 



Now on my arrival I could not learn anything of my 

 boat or of the condition of the river at Smith Landing. 

 Directly in front of Fort Smith the river was still frozen 



DEADFALL FOR HEAR 



from shore to shore, and the Indian who brought our packs 

 up from Salt River had to haul them over the ice for a mile 

 or two. 



Next morning I learned the river was broken but my 

 boat not begun, which was pleasing intelligence to a man 

 fretting at every delay and straining every nerve to get 

 out of the wretched country. But that night McKinley 

 returned to comfort his children with a meal of fish and 

 soothe me by placing a dugout at my disposal. 



Poor " Me " had put in a hard winter, and he showed it ; 

 he had made several unsuccessful hunting trips, and this 

 time he had been after bear, though with no luck. Bear 

 in this country there are no grizzly are caught by the 

 Indians in traps, but McKinley hunts with dogs, and fort- 

 une usually favors him, for he has 200 to his credit, and is 

 a noted hunter. 



The next morning one of the oxen used in transporting 



