108 _ ACROSS THE SUB-ARCTICS OF CANADA. 
Eskimo linguist. It was noticeable, however, at this 
time that John was unusually silent and backward, 
more so indeed than anyone in the party. After leay- 
ing the lodge I asked him if he had understood what 
the natives were saying, and was not a little amused 
when he replied, “ Y-e-s, but,—b-u-t, t-h-e,—the trouble 
was I couldn’t get them to talk.” After a pleasant 
but brief visit of less than one hour, during which time 
we received some valuable information about our route, 
as well as much assurance and encouragement, with 
many hearty “tabowetings” (good-byes), we parted. 
As we did so Louis, my steersman, with an expression 
of pleasant disappointment on his face, exclaimed, “They 
are not savage, but real decent people.” 
The current being strong, our friends at the topick 
were soon far behind. They had told us that from 
there to the sea (Hudson Bay) was about a twenty 
days journey, and though we thought we could likely 
make it in half that time, we were impressed and 
spurred on by the knowledge of the fact that we were 
now far into the interior of the country, and at the 
least eight hundred miles by our road from the nearest 
Hudson’s Bay Company’s post, Fort Churchill. This 
day and the next after visiting the Eskimos we had 
beautifully bright weather, but the enjoyment of it 
was marred by our encountering swarms of black flies. 
As we glided down the river several white wolves 
were seen upon the shore, gnawing at the carcass of a 
deer, and at a distance of about ten miles below the 
topick we entered another lake. 
