02 EXPLORATIONS IN THE FAR NORTH 



to Providence has been shortened by using a blazed trail 

 through the bush, instead of following the north shore to Big 

 Island and then descending the Mackenzie. Including its 

 interminable windings, the new route is about one hundred and 

 sixty miles in length. 



Henri Laferte, a metis servant, drove the packet team and, 

 Yahty, a strikingly handsome young Indian, whom I had had 

 with me on my first caribou hunt, ran before the dogs. The 

 trail had not been opened for the season, the snow was there- 

 fore soft and the way blocked by fallen trees; we were also 

 delayed by waiting for daylight each morning before starting, 

 on account of the trail being so faintly marked in the openings; 

 we often searched for some time to find the exit from the 

 numerous lakes and ponds. The snow was not yet deep 

 enough to cover the fallen timber against which the head of the 

 sled lodged every few minutes. The sled frequently caught 

 against standing trees at the sharp turns; these sudden stop- 

 pages injured the dogs' shoulders, and the poor beasts became 

 dispirited and sulked along at a slow pace. At each halt it was 

 necessary for me to wade around the sled, to lift the head of it 

 clear of the obstruction. My small snow-shoes sank deep in 

 the snow and made this very fatiguing work. I helped the 

 team by pushing the sled with a " pushing-stick " attached to the 

 middle of the load. 



On the morning of December 7th we started at two o'clock, 

 expecting to reach Providence that evening. We soon lost our 

 way in the darkness. Yahty and I curled up on our snow-shoes 

 and slept as comfortably as the position and a temperature of 

 thirty-eight degrees below zero would permit, while Henri 

 tramped around until daybreak looking for the trail, though how 

 he could distinguish it, even in broad daylight, was a mystery to 

 me. Yahty missed his way in the afternoon, and we were at 

 last forced to camp, though only seven miles from the post. 

 We were in the middle of an extensive marsh, locally known as 

 the "First Prairie," where there was very little brush for a camp 

 floor and only a few sticks for fuel. Henri and Yahty seemed 

 quite contented with the situation, but the thoughts of the com- 

 parative comfort and the companionship of people of my own 

 race at the post made me very anxious to push on, but, as on 

 several other occasions during my journey, the custom of the 



