OF THE POLAR SEA. 



229 



for winter use, at most of the fur-posts, as 

 the least bulky article that can be taken on 

 a winter journey. The mode of making 

 pemmican is very simple ; the meat is dried 

 by the Indians in the sun, or over a fire, 

 and pounded by beating it with stones when 

 spread on a skin. In this state it is brought 

 to the forts, where the admixture of hair is 

 partially sifted out, and a third part of 

 melted fat incorporated with it, partly by 

 turning the two over with a wooden shovel, 

 partly by kneading them together with the 

 hands. The pemmican is then firmly 

 pressed into leathern bags, each capable of 

 containing eighty-five pounds, and being 

 placed in an airy place to cool, is fit for 

 use. It keeps in this state, if not allowed 

 to get wet, very well for one year, and with 

 great care it may be preserved good for 

 two. Between three and four hundred 

 bags were made here by each of the Com- 

 panies this year. 



There were eight men, besides Mr. Pru- 

 dens and his clerk, belonging to Carlton 

 House. At La Montee there were seventy 



