The Provision Question 35 



Grounds, except by canoe; for barring the gener- 

 ous deposit of broken rock, it is practically a vast 

 swamp. In the winter, of course, this is frozen 

 over and topped by a foot or a foot and a half of 

 snow. It was a surprise to find no greater depth 

 of snow, but the fall is light in the very far North, 

 and the continuous gales pack and blow it so that 

 what remains on the ground is firm as earth. For 

 that reason the snow-shoes used in the Barren 

 Grounds are of the smallest pattern used any- 

 where. They are from six to eight inches wide, 

 three feet long, and, because of the dry char- 

 acter of the snow, have rather closer lacing than 

 any other shoe. This is the shoe used also 

 throughout the Athabasca-Slave-Mackenzie River 

 sections. The snow nowhere along this line of 

 travel is over a couple of feet in depth, is light 

 and dry and the "tripping" shoe, so called, is the 

 very best possible for such kind of going. In 

 the spring, when the snow is a little heavier, 

 the lacing is more open, otherwise the shoe is 

 unchanged. 



It is well known, I suppose, that the Barren 

 Grounds are devoid absolutely not only of trees but 

 even of brush, except for some scattered, stunted 

 bushes that in summer are to be found in occa- 



