I2 6 EXPLORATIONS IN THE FAR NORTH 



they were dried and carefully packed. He had secured a year's 

 furlough and was " going out to Red River," so that he accompa- 

 nied the collection as far as Edmonton. He also packed some 

 specimens which I had left at Smith, and looked after the cases, 

 while ascending the Athabasca, where accidents frequently 

 occur in the rapids. With the collection off my hands, I felt 

 free to make the attempt to reach the whalers, and if I failed 

 and had to spend the next winter snow-shoeing my way to Ed- 

 monton, I could stop at Fort Smith and try again for buffaloes. 



During the five days which I spent at the post, I was busily 

 occupied in caring for the large skins, and in packing the 

 remainder of the collection. It was too late in the season to 

 travel over the portage trail to Providence, which I had fol- 

 lowed in the autumn, as the snow was rapidly melting in the 

 bush. I intended, therefore, to follow the lake shore to the 

 Big Island fishery and there to hire a canoe of the metis or 

 Indians in which to descend the Mackenzie to Providence, forty 

 miles below the island. I was assured that the river would be 

 breaking up, but that I need not be delayed, as there would 

 certainly be a number of canoes at Big Island and I need antici- 

 pate no difficulty in engaging one of them with men to paddle it. 



To avoid the expense of an extra train and two men, I trav- 

 eled alone. I left the post late on the ioth of May, with a 

 heavy load, which included fish for the dogs for five nights, as 

 I expected to reach Big Island in six days. 



After two hours' traveling, the snow had thawed so that the 

 dogs could not haul at all, and I was forced to lie by until a 

 crust had formed in the evening, when I pushed on all night. 



On the nth I heard the ducks and geese in the small lakes 

 near Trout Rock, where a little open water covered the ice. I 

 camped at 9 a. m. on the nth, and set out in the evening at 7, 

 though the snow was still soft. I soon encountered a large 

 crack which I followed for several miles before I found a safe 

 crossing place. The sun remained below the horizon about six 

 hours, a part of which time it was rather dark to find my way 

 over an unknown and trackless route. 



Hauling dogs, however well trained they may be, are accus- 

 tomed to follow either a beaten track or a man running before 

 them. A team, driven alone, that seems to be exhausted and 

 which the severest whipping will not force any farther, will 



