THROUGH THE FOREST AND HOME AGAIN. 247 
_ Keeping as straight a course as we could, we pressed 
on through the darkness toward the distant shore, the 
dark outline of which could just be discerned against 
the lighter sky. At length we reached the shore, when, 
after passing through a narrow strip of woods, to our 
joy there suddenly flashed out before us, a few yards 
ahead, the lights of Oxford House. <A few minutes later 
we were the guests of Mr. and Mrs. Isbister, one of the 
most hospitable old couples it has ever been my good 
fortune to meet. Mr. Isbister was the local agent of the 
Hudson’s Bay Company, and was a thorough old-time 
Canadian, one of those men filled with reminiscences of 
early Canadian life in the north and whose many stories 
were a delight to hear. 
Having reached Oxford in safety, preparations were 
at once commenced for our journey to the next post— 
Norway House—150 miles farther west. Some delay 
was occasioned in getting dogs, but at length three 
miserable half-starved teams were secured, and with a 
new guide and drivers we set out on the third stage 
of our winter journey. Without narrating the many 
incidents by the way, I need only say that after a six 
days’ tramp, with the thermometer in the neighborhood 
of 40 degrees below zero, we arrived safely at Norway 
House, an important Hudson’s Bay Company’s post, situ- 
ated at the northern extremity of Lake Winnipeg. Two 
of the dog-teams procured at Oxford had been intended 
to haul my brother and myself, and for a time they did 
so, but the poor animals were in such a wretched con- 
dition from the effects of former hard work that we 
preferred to walk most of the time, and before we 
