CHAPTER III 

 ALBERTA 



THAT I might descend the Mackenzie River by the first 

 open water, it was necessary to leave Grand Rapids while 

 the sledge travel was still good. A dog train was being sent to 

 Selkirk, the nearest railway point, and my outfit was to be car- 

 ried by it while I walked or ran with the men in charge of the 

 team. 



On the morning of February 20th, I bade farewell to the little 

 group of natives that had gathered to see us off. Some of them 

 had been friendly and hospitable and I parted from them with 

 regret. We were accompanied, for the first day, by Mr. Mc- 

 Lean, who camped with us at night on the portage across Long 

 Point, near the scene of our moose hunting adventures of the 

 autumn. During the night the dogs broke into the sled and ate 

 all our bacon. At the time I was partially conscious that 

 something was amiss, but was too exhausted to become fully 

 aroused. It seemed as if an assembly of fiends was combating 

 for the possession of our camp. Over the sleds, across our 

 prostrate bodies, and through the smouldering fire the dogs 

 fought, snarling and howling. The next day they were sorry 

 looking dogs, and the one that ate the most bacon was a very 

 sick cur. Fortunately for us there was a hunter's cabin on our 

 route which we reached at noon. The owners of the shanty 

 were absent upon a hunting trip in the bush, but there were 

 several hundred pounds of fresh and dried moose meat on the 

 scaffolds and from this we replenished our stock of provision. 

 Small packages of tea, tobacco, etc., accompanied by a few 

 lines in syllabic characters, written upon birch-bark or smooth 

 pine sticks, showed that other visitors had drawn upon the meat 

 caches for supplies. My companions examined every bundle 

 and ransacked the premises before they could be induced to 



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