206 LEAVING THE LONE LAND 



to some horse-tracks in the snow ; in some 

 excitement, and with a broad smile, saying : 

 " Not dog, not deer — what you call it ? " Mean- 

 ing that here was something closely associated 

 with the white man, and therefore drawing my 

 attention to that which he thought must be dear 

 to me. At Du Brochet horses were unknown, 

 but in full winter they travel over the ice to the 

 post we had now reached with substantial loads 

 of such stores as once a year recuperate the Far 

 North Trading Posts. 



It is 230 miles from Fort Du Brochet to Pelican 

 Narrows on the map ; possibly it is 250 miles, 

 or more, by the trail we followed. -We had 

 trailed the distance in one straight run in eight 

 days, thereby averaging thirty-one miles a day ; 

 accomplishing under thirty miles a day when the 

 country or weather conditions were distracting, 

 and over thirty miles when the trail was favour- 

 able. Such steady travelling, with formidable 

 loads, is tribute to the endurance of sled-dogs, and 

 to Indian skill in keeping, unguided by map or 

 mechanical record, on a direct course to a far- 

 off destination. 



January 5 and 6 I spent at Pelican Nar- 

 rows ; resting the first day, and delayed on the 

 second on account of the Indians who I had 

 arranged were to go with me to transport my 

 specimens, for here my Du Brochet Indians had 

 completed their task, and would return home. 



At Pelican Narrows I found letters from home 

 — those that should ordinarily have travelled 

 by the Christmas packet to Du Brochet. The 

 delay of the packet was here solved : the war 



