H tint ing Musk-Ox with the Dog Ribs 



me very glad to see the dirty, smoke- 

 begrimed lodges with their swarm of dogs 

 and half-naked children. The whole camp 

 was soon wrangling over my last pinch of 

 salt. I was dependent upon my rifle or the 

 Indians for meat, which with tea made up 

 the bill of fare for the next two months. 



The Dog Ribs were not ready for the 

 great Etjerrer-kah, musk-ox hunt. They 

 must first make new snow-shoes, sled-lines, 

 and moccasins; caribou must be killed, and 

 pounded meat and grease prepared. We 

 moved our camp twice during the next 

 three weeks, which interrupted the dreary, 

 monotonous rubdub of the Dog Rib drums, 

 to the beating of which the beggars sat 

 and gambled from early morning until 

 midnight. 



On the evening of the 28th my dogs 

 were not to be found at feeding-time : "Te- 

 kah ils mangeaient vos chiens as'soir," 

 said Johnnie. " Yazzy tekah thlohn," said 

 the others. " The wolves will eat your 

 dogs to-night/' 



" Yes ; the wolves are very numerous." 

 Without the dogs I could do nothing ; 

 missing this opportunity I must remain 

 another year in the country, or go back 

 to Iowa without these, the most difficult 

 to obtain of American mammals. After a 



306 



