404 DR JOHN RAE'S EXPLORATIONS— 18^6 A7. 



7^ feet, sloping to 5^ at the back. We formed a very good roof by using the 

 oars and masts of our boats as rafters, and covering them with oil-cloth and 

 moose skin, the latter being fixed to the lower or inside of the rafters, whilst 

 the former was placed on the outside to run off the rain. The door was made 

 of parchment deer-skins stretched over a frame of wood. The walls were 

 fully two feet thick, with three small openings, in which a like number of 

 windows, each having two panes of glass, were placed. Our establishment 

 was dignified with the name Fort Hope, and was situated in lat. 66° 32' 16" N., 

 long. 86° 55' 51" W. . . . A sort of room was formed at one end by put- 

 ting up a partition of oil-cloth. In this, besides its serving as my quarters, 

 all our pemmican and some of the other stores were stowed away." 



After the middle of September Dr Rae and his party began to settle down 

 into regular habits for the winter. The routine of work varied little from 

 day to day. The men got up in the morning before daylight, rolled up 

 their bedding, made breakfast, and, having got their orders for the day, 

 promptly set about their various employments, which were generally carried 

 on out of doors. The breakfast meal usually consisted of boiled venison, and 

 the water in which the meat had been boiled, with the addition of some 

 deer's blood and a handful or two of flour, made a very excellent soup. The 

 only other meal of the day — dinner, tea, and supper in one — consisted of the 

 same fare as breakfast, and was taken at four or five o'clock. In the even- 

 ing Eae would employ himself writing up his journal or making calculations, 

 while his men practised reading, writing, and arithmetic under his super- 

 vision. Divine service was read on Sundays. The weather during Septem- 

 ber was stormy and unfavourable for observations of all kinds, and Eae was 

 often obliged to exchange the sextant for therifle, "a not unwelcome exchange 

 to one addicted to field sports 'from his youth upwards.'" Deer were 

 numerous at this season on the uplands around Fort Hope, and the Doctor's 

 skill as a sportsman had its reward. The sporting-book for the month 

 showed that 63 deer, 5 hares, 1 seal, 172 partridges, and 116 salmon and 

 trout had been brought in for present necessities and as part provision for 

 the winter. 



On the 16th October the mercury in the thermometers sank for the first 

 time to zero. But the increase of cold was not without its advantages. 

 Hitherto the wet clay used in the building of the house had produced a 

 most unpleasant feeling of dampness, and had injured many of the stores. 

 Now, however, the clay was hard frozen, and the interior was consequently 

 dry and comfortable. But such articles as had been damp previously now 

 froze solid-. Eae was surprised, on attempting to open some books that had 

 been lying on a shelf, to find the leaves a solid mass. On the 23d, a party 

 of natives arrived at Fort Hope, bringing with them five dozen reindeer 

 tongues, a seal-skin full of oil, and some dogs, all of which Dr Eae gladly 



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