214 HUNTING IN THE ARCTIC 



pedient for us to push on without our suppHes as in this 

 instance, his preUminary work made it much easier for 

 us to go loaded with our packs. Bill had a good eye 

 for a trail. Often he would halt on some little rise to 

 look over the country ahead of us, and wrinkling up his 

 nose as he squinted into the distance would stand motion- 

 less for five minutes. He hardly ever spoke when we were 

 on the march or looking for game. Then, if we were 

 confronted by an apparently insurmountable precipice, 

 he would presently say, without turning around, "I 

 suppose a fellow could put his feet on those little ledges 

 where the grass grows, about three inches wide, and maybe 

 hold on to the willows and pull himself up there." By 

 this Bill would intend to say to me, ''Do you think you 

 can cUmb up there?" 



But preserving the impersonal form of the question, I 

 would generally reply, ''Yes, I suppose a fellow could 

 do that," and up we would go. 



Upon returning from this tour of exploration Bill 

 announced that we would cross Benjamin Creek at the 

 cabin and follow an old trail on the north side of the 

 Killey River which he had cut out for several miles. 

 Accordingly we packed a little food and enough of an 

 outfit to last for a week in the sheep country and started 

 off next morning, leaving a note for the other boys to 

 come on the following day. 



We had felled three trees and placed them across 

 the creek at the cabin. Over these we went dry shod 

 and followed Bill's blazes along the bank of the river. 

 After we had passed the point which Bill had marked 

 the day before, it became necessary frequently to stop 

 and look for the most practicable route, as the trail led 

 up and down over hillocks thickly strewn with fallen 



