vi PREFACE 



wide turbid floods a thousand leagues to the silent 

 Arctic Sea. 



This was the thought which spurred me to a six- 

 months' journey by canoe. And I found what I went 

 in search of, but found, also, abundant and better re- 

 wards that were not in mind, even as Saul, the son 

 of Kish, went seeking asses and found for himself a 

 crown and a great kingdom. 



My thanks are due here to the Right Honourable 

 Lord Strathcona, G. C. M. G., Governor of the Hud- 

 son's Bay Company, for giving me access to the records 

 of the Company whenever I needed them for histori- 

 cal purposes; to the Honourable Frank Oliver, Minis- 

 ter of the Interior, Canada, for the necessary papers 

 and permits to facilitate scientific collection, and also 

 to Clarence C. Chipman, Esq., of Winnipeg, the Hud- 

 son's Bay Company's Commissioner, for practical help 

 in preparing my outfit, and for letters of introduction 

 to the many officers of the Company, whose kind help 

 was so often a Godsend. 



Ernest Thompson Seton. fc 



