A CHANGE OF BASE 131 



tion of broken granite and limestone made the 

 vision a glorious one. 



When we had descended a couple of miles, 

 the route led close to a tall pinnacle to the 

 right, and back of it was an extensive inclined 

 plane of perhaps two and a half miles in ex- 

 tent, and a mile or more in breadth, leading 

 up to another watershed. This inclined plane 

 was well covered with white moss, the nour- 

 ishing food that the caribou are so fond of, it 

 being their principal food. 



The end of this day's journey brought us 

 down to a basin-like bottom where our tent 

 was pitched, and the horses let loose to feed 

 on the deep grass which was here everywhere 

 to be found. Whichever way we looked from 

 this camp it seemed that we were faced by a 

 divide, north, south, east and west. 



The first evening we spent here was one 

 long to be remembered. Luminous banks of 

 crimson clouds hung over the mountains, 

 while dark and weird shadows were to be 

 found in all of the depressions of the moun- 

 tain sides, and the wonder of it all was the 

 constantly changing light. 



Here the ptarmigan was found in enormous 

 numbers, and their hoarse cackle made a great 

 volume of sound that could be heard from 



