llAK. 1859. TRAVELLING ROUTINE. 227 



dining inwards as much as possible ; over these 

 our tent was laid to form a roof ; we could not 

 afford the time necessary to construct a dome of 

 snow. 



Our equipment consisted of a very small 

 brown-holland tent, macintosh floor-cloth, and 

 felt robes ; besides this, each man had a bag 

 of double blanketing, and a pair of fur boots, to 

 sleejD in. We wore mocassins over the pieces 

 of blanket in which our feet were wrapped up, 

 and, with the exception of a change of this 

 foot-gear, carried no spare clothes. The daily 

 routine was as follows : — ■! led the way ; Peter- 

 sen and Thompson followed, conducting their 

 sledges ; and in this manner we trudged on 

 for eight or ten hours without halting, except 

 when necessary to disentangle the dog-harness. 

 When we halted for the nighty Thompson and I 

 usually sawed out the blocks of compact snow 

 and carried them to Petersen, who acted as the 

 master-mason in building the snow-hut : the 

 hour and a half or two hour's usually employed 

 in erecting the edifice was the most disagreeable 

 part of the day's labour, for, in addition to 

 being already well tired and desiring repose, we 

 became thoroughly chilled whilst standing 

 about. When the hut was finished, the dogs 

 were fed, and here the great difficulty was 



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