Hunting Musk-Ox with the Dog Ribs 



significant glances at me, as if this " Woh- 

 kahwe " accompanying them had offended 

 the Great Spirit, so that he had wreaked 

 his vengeance upon the man who had 

 allowed me to enter the Dog Rib hunting- 

 ground. A terrific gale with a tempera- 

 ture of thirty degrees below zero prevented 

 us from searching for the lost man ; we 

 could only spend the day in our blankets, 

 while the snow drifted in and over all. 



That was one of the most miserable days 

 I ever spent. I had tried twice to run 

 with the Indians, and failed to reach the 

 musk-ox ; and there seemed to be no im- 

 mediate prospect of my getting any. The 

 musk-ox were not numerous, they said, 

 and our wood might fail before we secured 

 any more. Johnnie must have perished, 

 as no human being could live through a 

 night of such storm without protection, 

 and it was thirty-six hours before we could 

 search for him. We were shivering in our 

 blankets, even the Indians saying, " Edsah, 

 yazzy edsah " - (it is cold, very cold). 



The next morning proved to be calm, 

 and we set off in search of Johnnie. I 

 had as great difficulty to keep my cheeks 

 from freezing as at any time during the 

 winter, though there was scarcely any wind 

 blowing. 



317 



