I4 EXPLORATIONS IN THE FAR NORTH 



We sprang to the oars and hastened towards it, soon rinding, 

 however, that it was floating, lifeless, its skull shattered by the 

 heavy ball. All hands laying hold, we dragged it into the boat, 

 and a few minutes later were at the end of the tramway across 

 the portage, where we loaded it on a car and carried it to my 

 very door. 



In November I continued the daily field work, collecting 

 birds and small mammals. The chickaree, or red squirrel, the 

 anikwichas of the Crees, was quite abundant; its defiant chatter 

 might be heard on any fair day throughout the winter. I also 

 snared a number of northern hares. These animals are seem- 

 ingly very fond of twine. During the first night they were set, 

 fifteen of the nineteen snares were cut and chewed by the 

 animals which the)' were intended to capture. The Indians 

 sometimes rub ermine's liver on the snares to prevent their being 

 eaten, but usually a large number are set, and patiently re- 

 newed if destroyed. At least half the hares are caught by the 

 hind legs in passing through the snare; as a result their flesh 

 has an indescribably disagreeable flavor which is not found in 

 those caught by the neck. 



During my morning hunts I frequently walked fifteen or 

 twenty miles, and found more and more difficulty in securing 

 specimens enough to occupy my attention during the rest of 

 the day. 



During the morning hunt of November 21st, my face was 

 frost-bitten for the first time. Snow fell nearly every day and 

 accumulated to such a depth that travel through the bush be- 

 came very fatiguing. My journal contains the following entry 

 for December 6th: "Spent the afternoon in the field, secured 

 one red-poll ! I left the portage trail to hunt in the bush, found 

 it almost impossible to manage my small snow-shoes in the 

 soft snow and took them off only to find myself sinking waist 

 deep in the snow! Alphonse Propontier remarked this morn- 

 ing that during a residence here of twenty-three years he had 

 never before seen the snow so deep at this season." Under 

 such circumstances the collection of birds became unprofitable 

 as the number of species was reduced to the few winter residents. 



Dog Driving;. On the 16th of November, I took my first 

 lesson in dog driving. Even then I felt an anticipatory chill 

 at the thought of the hundreds of miles of that kind of travel- 



