A NEW WAY TO DRY WET CLOTHES. 405 



purchased. In the earlier part of October numbers of deer frequented the 

 neighbourhood, but at its close they had migrated southward, or gone away 

 to wooded districts for shelter. The sporting-book showed that sixty-nine 

 deer had been taken during the month, but only eighteen salmon and four 

 trout. 



During November few incidents of greater interest than the following 

 hunting adventure took place : " On the 4th November," writes Dr Eae, 

 "when out looking for deer, a little before daylight in the morning, I 

 observed a band of animals coming over a rising ground at a quick pace, 

 directly towards me. I at first supposed them to be deer, but on a nearer 

 approach they proved to be wolves, seventeen in number. They continued 

 to advance at full speed imtil within forty yards, when they formed a sort 

 of half circle to leeward. Hoping to send a ball through one of them, I 

 knelt down and took what I thought a sure aim at a large fellow that was 

 nearest; unfortunately it was not yet broad daylight, and the rascals all 

 kept end on to me, so that the ball merely cut off a line of hair and a piece 

 of skin from his side. They apparently did not expect to meet with such 

 a reception, for after looking at me a second or two they trotted off, no 

 doubt as much disappointed at not making a breakfast of me as I was at 

 missing my aim. Had they come to close quarters (which they sometimes 

 do when hard pressed for food), I had a large and strorig knife which would 

 have proved a very efficient weapon." 



Severe cold was felt during this month, and Dr Eae, finding that his 

 stock of fuel was now very low, gave orders that fires were only to be lit 

 for cooking purposes; but never for the purpose of drying clothes. The 

 plan he adopted for drying his own wet and freezing garments was to take 

 them under the blankets with him at night, and dry them by the heat of 

 his body. The evaporation rising from the wet clothes froze on the blankets, 

 which he always found sparkling with hoar-frost when he went to bed at 

 night. But the rigorous climate of Repulse Bay exposed the expedition to 

 frequent peril, as well as to constant inconvenience and hardship. On the 

 morning of the 9th November a party of four men had been sent to North 

 Pole Lake, eight miles from Fort Hope, to examine and re-set the fishing- 

 nets. A blinding snow-storm came on in the afternoon, and the greatest 

 anxiety was felt for the absent men. Guns were fired frequently to attract 

 their attention, and at last, at eight p.m., the bewildered absentees came in 

 staggering with fatigue, and looking like so many "walking pillars of snow." 

 They had taken eight hours to accomplish the homeward journey of eight 



miles. 



During the month of December there was no game to be seen, and Eae 

 exercised his men chiefly in building snow-houses after the Eskimo fashion, 

 and found that one or two of them soon became very good snow-masons. 



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