Hunting Mnsk-Ox with the Dog Ribs 



twenty-five feet, with thick, twisted, and 

 much-branched trunks. We left the Cop- 

 permine with our sleds loaded, as heavily 

 as the dogs could haul, with wood, cut and 

 split into billets of convenient size. What 

 a luxury a good oil-stove would have been ! 

 As we were about to start, " Jimmy the 

 Chief," who was leader of the band, and 

 by far the most intelligent man among 

 them, after a long look eastward, turned 

 to me and said, "A-ye tetchiu touty, nit- 

 zy nitchah, yazzy edsah." " This is the 

 woodless country where the blizzards blow, 

 and it is always cold." Then drawing his 

 old gray blanket closer about his shoulders, 

 and grasping his double-barrelled smooth- 

 bore, he set off at a rapid pace, the seven 

 trains falling into line upon the track of 

 his snow-shoes. 



We followed the course of a small 

 stream called Kwe-lond Ta for about forty 

 miles, until we reached a lake at least 

 thirty miles in length, called Yambahty. 



On the seventh day I killed a male cari- 

 bou, four or five years old, still bearing 

 his antlers, though we are told that the 

 bucks shed them early in December. 

 Half the caribou still carried their antlers. 



As we advanced that day the hills be- 

 came more rolling, with gravel and peb- 



309 



