CHAPTER XVII. 
ON SNOWSHOES AND DOG-SLEDS. 
On the morning of the 6th of November, after a 
stay of seventeen days at Fort Churchill, we were 
again ready to set out for the south. Our team con- 
sisted of six Eskimo dogs, attached tandem fashion to a 
sled twelve feet long and a foot and a half wide. This 
sled was of the regular Eskimo type, the runners being 
formed of sticks hewn down to the dimensions of about 
two inches by six inches, and slightly curved up in front. 
Upon the sled was loaded about six hundred pounds 
of provisions, dog-meat, blankets and other dunnage, 
all securely lashed on within a canvas wrapper. The 
driver who had charge of the team was a tall young 
half-breed, named Arthur Omen. Our guide, whose 
name was “Jimmie” Westasecot, was a large fine- 
looking Cree Indian, of about middle age, who bore 
the distinction of being the most famous hunter and 
traveller in all that country. : 
The party consisted of ten. My brother and I were 
warmly dressed in deer-skin garbs of the Eskimo, while 
the rest of the party wore the white blanket suits of the 
traders, and with the exception of poor Michel, whose 
feet were still too sore to allow him to walk, each man 
