CHAPTER VI 



WINTER AT ITS HEIGHT 



It was not until about the middle of January that I felt 

 the cold much. It was then intense ; and I suffered 

 rather severely from frost-bites. These I soon cured by 

 rubbmg with snow, and applying vegetable poultices pre- 

 pared by the sqaaw. The Indian remedies for all kinds 

 of cuts, sores, and bites are excellent ; and their medicine 

 men are generally skilful bone-setters. About this time 

 I suffered much with bowel troubles, not an unusual occur- 

 rence, I believe, with recent arrivals in the country, and 

 for six weeks I was too unwell to move about. I owe the 

 Indian women much gratitude, several of them volunteer- 

 ing to nurse me ; and Chompol was indefatigable in her 

 attendance. 



At the end of February I was able to get about 

 again, and make snow-shoe excursions for a few miles 

 around our huts ; but by this time all the game had been 

 driven far from our neighbourhood, and the men were all 

 away seeking it in the great forests to the north. 



At this time there were scarcely any small birds to 

 be found, they having either migrated or sought shelter 

 in impenetrable cover. The former was most likely to 

 be the case ; it certainly was in the great majority of cases ; 

 and thus it would seem that this country is remarkable for 

 the almost complete migration of all its smaller feathered 

 animals. Many of the larger ones had also disappeared, 

 and a few fresh species had arrived from more northern 

 regions. Amongst the latter were a few ptarmigan. These 

 were met with on the lake (frozen, remember), and where- 



