WINDWARD ISLES AND THE GRENADINES 3I 



about £o pounds so that they might be carried easily across land ; 

 such canoes were built of light laths of larch laid as frames and 

 covered with painted canvas, which they obtained in exchange 

 for furs in the H.B.C. stores. 



The next day the ship again reached Ford's Harbour where 

 nine months earlier she had been licking her wounds after her 

 encounter with Challenger Rock. The poles marking the triangu- 

 lation stations, which had been left on the ship's hurried departure 

 last year, were still standing and could be seen on the hilltops . Next 

 morning parties were away putting new flags on these poles from 

 which the winds of winter had removed every trace of the old. 



A conference was held onboard at Nain to which Mr. Grubb, 

 the missionary, and Mr. Clarke of the H.B.C. store were invited 

 so that arrangements could be made in good time for the winter 

 party, who were to have their headquarters in Nain. It was 

 arranged that the party should live in the small unused wooden 

 hospital, which appeared sufficiently large to accommodate them 

 and to leave room for a chartroom for plotting the survey work. 

 Arrangements were made to start collecting the dogs which would 

 be required for hauling the sledges or 'komatiks', as they are 

 called. In summer time the husky dogs are either placed on small 

 uninhabited islands where they have to fend for themselves, going 

 down to the water's edge to catch their own fish, or they may be 

 incarcerated in the centre of the settlement in square stockades 

 made of logs placed vertically to form the walls. Into this com- 

 pound cod heads and other fish offal are thrown from time to 

 time, and the level inside the stockade and the smell outside it 

 rise steadily during the months of summer. When the dogs are 

 released with the first snows of winter they are so wild for the 

 first few days as to be uncontrollable. Dogs were reported scarce 

 this year due to sickness but it was thought that the requisite 

 number would be available by November. 



The komatiks which the dog teams pull across the ice and snow 

 through the long winters are of the simplest construction, being 

 formed of two long fore-and-aft wooden runners shod with iron, 

 with cross boards secured between them on the top along their 

 entire length to form a platform. 



The marks having been for the most part fixed last season, the 

 ship and boats were able to press on with the sounding work, 



