Canadian Forestry Journal, May, iqi6. 



)23 



Lee with his team and bobsled for 

 the purpose. We drove out to his 

 place, 20 miles, during- the evening-. 

 Loading hay and feed and outfit, we 

 drove to Angling Lake the next day. 

 At Shoal Creek we saw logs being 

 loaded by means of "caterpillar" en- 

 gine and sleighs on iced road. A 

 large cut is being secured by the 

 Prince Albert Lumber Company, 

 despite the unfavorable winter. 



Next day we drove fifty miles to 

 Montreal Lake, arriving at 8 a.m. 

 East of AVaskesiu Lake a tract of 

 land is nearing the prairie stage. It 

 was formerly spruce forest. Some- 

 thing over a mile of very good In- 

 dian timber is passed through be- 

 fore reaching the lake. Their waste- 

 ful methods of cutting show that 

 they need a forester to look after 

 their holdings. 



By request of Chief Fire Ranger 

 Thompson, I looked up a site for a 

 ranger station with Lee, who will 

 be sub-chief for the coming season. 

 We drove to the north end of the 

 lake to-day, it was a very fine day, 

 the temperature going from zero at 

 sunrise to -K) above, but in the after- 

 noon the snow softened and the 

 horses went through at each step. 

 A good view of the timber belt on 

 the east of th elake was obtained. 



Action Needed Here. 

 The horses here had to stand out 

 wth five other teams, and we camped 

 in a very small cabin with eight 

 freighters, all sleeping on the floor, 

 as usual. Snow fell during the 

 night, and the next morning good 

 weather was at an end. However, 

 we had a start, and were across the 

 lake. Facing the wind, which both- 

 ered in open places only, we made a 

 noon fire in falling snow and reach- 

 ed Hoofer's cabin in the evening. A 

 30-mile stretch of 40-year-old tim- 

 ber here merits protection and 

 should be included in a reserve be- 

 fore it burns down again. On the 

 trail between Montreal Lake and 

 Lac La Ronge there is less than one 

 percent of spruce saw timber, and 



none of pine. The next day we cros- 

 sed Pine River and Potato Lake and 

 had a windy noon fire. The horses 

 could not go faster than a walk, for 

 at nearly every step they would sink 

 into the deep snow beside the nar- 

 row road. \\'e arrived at La La 

 Ronge at dusk, putting up at the 

 Hudson's Bay Company. Angus 

 McKay, who is in charge, was seen 

 here. The distance of practically 200 

 miles from Prince Albert was made 

 in five days from time of starting. 

 A wild gale blew on Lac la Ronge 

 to-night, but it was almost warm, 

 2)2' above 



Travelling by Cariole. 

 On Monday morning the mercury 

 stood at 30\ I walked back to Re- 

 villon's, making preparation to start 

 west by dog train next morning. 

 That night it grew very cold, and in 

 the morning, the last day of Febru- 

 ary, the instruments showed 33^ be- 

 low zero. The start was postponed 

 till next morning. The glass still 

 stood at 30, but at 10 a.m. we started 

 with two sledges. 9 dogs, and a 

 second driver. We made a run of 

 one hour, the first of my experience 

 in a cariole. The wind on Bigstone 

 Lake was verv cold. After crossing 

 it. we had to wait half an hour for 

 the second train to come up. When 

 it arrived the kettle had to be boiled, 

 after going about five miles. This 

 was discouraging. In the next few 

 miles the trail in the muskeg fre- 

 quently became drifted full and pro- 

 gress was slow. The second train 

 still lagged behind. The driver now 

 said the journey could not be made 

 in less than 8 days. For all I knew 

 it would be 10 or 20 days. The snow 

 was knee deep and more every- 

 where, except on the lakes. The 

 trail was chiefly open muskeg, the 

 dri\er said, which is the worst to 

 drift. A cold night and camping 

 out were certain. We turned and 

 got back to Lac la Ronge that even- 

 ing. I now regretted that I did not 

 return with Lee. However, empty 

 freight teams were likely any day to 



