CHAPTER XX. 



THROUGH THE FOREST AND HOME AGAIN. 



Upon arriving at York we were kindly received by the 

 officer of the Hudson's Bay Company, Dr. Milne. Our men 

 were given lodgings and rations in one o£ the many vacant 

 houses in the Fort, while my brother and I were shovsoi into 

 the Doctor's bachelor quarters, and allowed to occupy the 

 room of Mr. Mowat, the assistant trader, who was absent at 

 the time. 



The first articles essential to comfort were tubs and warm 

 water. With travellers in the north, particularly during the 

 winter season, the practice of performing daily ablutions is 

 quite unheard of. This is not owing to neglect, but is rather 

 an enforced custom due to the painful effects produced by the 

 application of ice-cold water to the skin. During the pre- 

 vious summer and autumn my brother and I adhered to 

 the habit of daily washing our hands and face, until our 

 skin became so cracked and sore that we were forced to 

 discontinue. 



Besides Dr. Milne and an old-time servant, Macpherson, 

 Mr. Mowat, now temporarily absent, was the only other 

 white resident in York. He had, only a few days before our 

 arrival, been sent off with two Indians as a relief party to 

 look for the Company's autumn mail, which was now more 

 than six weeks overdue. The mail should have come dovm 

 the Hays Eiver from Oxford House, 250 miles distant, 

 before the close of navigation, but as nothing had yet been 

 heard of it or the party, fears were entertained as to their 

 safety. It was thought they must have been lost in the 

 river. 



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