30 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



and passed some small canoes, which the 

 Indians had left for the winter. The snow 

 was so deep that the dogs were obliged to 

 stop every ten minutes to rest ; and the 

 cold so excessive, that both the men were 

 badly frozen on both sides of the face and 

 chin. At length, having come to a long 

 meadow, which the dogs could not cross 

 that night, we halted in an adjoining wood, 

 and were presently joined by a Canadian, 

 who was on his return to the fort, and who 

 treated us with some fresh meat in exchange 

 for pemmican. During the latter part of 

 the day we had seen numerous tracks of the 

 moose, buffalo, and marten. 



" December 26. — The weather was so cold 

 that we were compelled to run to prevent 

 ourselves from freezing ; our route lay 

 across some large meadows which appeared 

 to abound in animals, though the Indians 

 around Slave Lake are in a state of great 

 want. About noon we passed a sulphur- 

 stream, which ran into the river ; it appeared 

 to come from a plain about fifty yards dis- 

 tant. There were no rocks near it, and the 



