96 



A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



burn ; we were provided with two carioles and two sledges ; and 

 their drivers and dogs were furnished in equal proportions by the 

 two Companies. Fifteen days' provision so completely filled the 

 sledges, that it was with difficulty we found room for a small sex- 

 tant, one suit of clothes, and three changes of linen, together with 

 our bedding. Notwithstanding we thus restricted ourselves, and 

 even loaded the carioles with part of the luggage, instead of em- 

 barking in them ourselves, we did not set out without consider- 

 able grumbling from the voyagers of both Companies, respecting 

 the overlading of their dogs. However, we left the matter to be 

 settled by our friends at the fort, who were more conversant with 

 winter travelling than ourselves. Indeed, the loads appeared to us 

 so great that we should have been inclined to listen to the com- 

 plaints of the drivers. The weight usually placed upon a sledge, 

 drawn by three dogs, cannot, at the commencement of a journey, 

 be estimated at less than three hundred pounds, which, however, 

 suffers a daily diminution from the consumption of provisions. The 

 sledge itself weighs about thirty pounds. When the snow is hard 

 frozen, or the track well trodden, the rate of travelling is about two 

 miles and a half an hour including rests, or about fifteen miles a 

 day. If the snow is loose, the speed is necessarily much less and 

 the fatigue greater. 



At eight in the morning of the 18th, we quitted the fort, and 

 took leave of our hospitable friend, Governor Williams, whose kind- 

 ness and attention I shall ever remember with gratitude. Dr. Eich- 

 ardson, Mr. Hood, and Mr. Connolly, accompanied us along the 

 Saskatchawan until the snow became too deep for their walking 

 without snow-shoes. We then parted from our associates, with 

 sincere regret at the prospect of a long separation. Being accom- 

 panied by Mr. Mackenzie, of the Hudson's Bay Company, who 

 was going to Isle a la Crosse, with four sledges under his charge, 

 we formed quite a procession, keeping in an Indian file, in the track 



