CROSSING? PAE NELSON. 235 
Later two of the hunters returned with several ptarmi- 
gan and one or two rabbits, and last of all, some time 
after dark, the remaining two—Jim and our noble 
guide—walked into camp carrying the carcase of a deer. 
With careful use we had meat enough now to keep 
us from suffering for several days, and in order to 
guard against greed or waste my brother and I took 
possession of the stock and divided it up equally among 
the party, each man receiving in all about ten pounds. 
Without narrating in detail the incidents following 
it will be sufficient to state that for ten long days our 
weary wait on the bleak banks of the Nelson was con- 
tinued. From time to time the men were sent out to 
hunt, but except in the above instance were obliged to 
return empty-handed. ~ 
On the morning of the 19th, the guide and Jim, 
provided with rifles, blankets, axes and snowshoes, 
started up the river, determined to find deer if there 
were any in the neighborhood, and also to investigate 
the possibilities of crossing the river higher up. 
Four days of bitterly cold weather passed, the ther- 
mometer varying from 12 to 15 degrees below zero, and 
back came our discouraged hunters without having fired 
a shot. Food was becoming alarmingly scarce. A fox 
which happened in our way was trapped and eagerly 
devoured. 
On the evening of the 22nd, though the mercury in- 
dicated 22° below zero, the channel of the river above us 
was noticed to be less thickly blocked with ice than 
where we were encamped. It was resolved, if possible, 
to haul the boat a mile or two farther up stream, and 
there to launch and measure our strength with the floe. 
