92 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 



broad. Fortunately the wind was blowing at our backs, 

 otherwise it would have been insupportable, the tem- 

 perature of the air having fallen to 20° below zero. As 

 it was almost impossible to endure the inaction involved 

 by being tightly packed in a small cariole, notwithstand- 

 ing a liberal supply of blankets and robes, we preferred 

 to run after the dogs across that inhospitable prairie which, 

 however beautiful it may be in summer, is an exposed 

 and desolate wild in December. Mutual astonishment 

 was expressed at the appearance presented by each in- 

 dividual after this long run. Our eyebrows, beards, 

 moustaches, hair, and eyelashes were imiforriily frosted ; 

 the moisture from the breath had formed icicles down 

 our beards, which were firmly frozen to the hoods of our 

 blanket coats ; patches of frost-bites on our cheeks, nose, 

 or ears demanded instant friction with snow ; and the 

 outside of the coat of each man, from the nape of the 

 neck to the loins, was covered with a narrow sheet of 

 hoar-frost, formed by the solidification of the insensible 

 perspiration the moment it reached the outer air. 



The appearance of a winter camp during the night, when 

 men and dogs are buried in profound slumber, is very wild 

 and savage. Throwing a few dry sticks into the fire to 

 light up the scene, the silent, slumbering forms of the 

 travelers are seen stretched in two paraUel rows with their 

 feet to the fire ; between the men one, two, and sometimes 

 three huge dogs have crept • some are lying on the legs of 

 the half-breeds for the sake of warmth, others have found a 

 snug berth close to the fire but in imminent danger of 

 burning their fur, a few lie coiled outside of the circle 

 half buried in the snow. The cold is so intense that their 

 faces are white with frozen breath, and scarcely distin- 

 guishable. The fire, even when in full glow, has not 

 power to melt the snow more than a few inches from it, 



