ch with an Indian driver.

Sometimes the snow was so deep that the four dog-drivers went ahead of
the dogs, immediately behind the guide, and, keeping in line with him,
industriously packed down the snow, that the dogs might the more easily
drag the heavy sleds along. The reason why our loads were so heavy was
this. We were not in a country where, when night overtook us, we could
find some hospitable home to welcome us. Neither were we where there
were hotels or houses in which for money we could secure lodgings. We
were in one of the most desolate and thinly inhabited parts of the
world, where those who travel long distances see no human beings, except
the Indian hunters, and these but rarely. Hence, in spite of all our
efforts to make our loads as light as possible, they would be heavy,
although we were only carrying what was considered absolutely essential.
We had to take our provisions, fish for our dogs, kettles, tin dishes,
axes, bedding, guns, extra clothing, and various other things, to meet
emergencies that might arise.

The heaviest item on our sleds was the fish for the dogs. Each dog was
fed once a day, and then received two good white fishes, each weighing
from four to six pounds. So that if the daily allowance for each dog
averaged five pounds, the fish alone on each sled would weigh one
hundred and twenty pounds, when we began a trip of a week's duration.
Then the bitter cold and the vigorous exercise gave both the drivers and
the missionary good appetites, and so the food provided for them was of
no insignificant weight.

We generally stopped about half an hour before sundown in order to have
time, ere darkness enshrouded us, to prepare our camp. As we journeyed
on we had observed that the guide who had been running along in front
had been, for the last half hour or so, carefully scanning the forest to
the right and left. At length he stopped, and as we came up to him we
said, "Well, Tom, what is the matter?"

His answer is, "Here is a capital place for our camp."

"Why do you think so?" we ask.

He replies, "Do you see those balsams? They will furnish us with a bed,
and this cluster of dry, dead small trees will give us the wood we need
for our fire." So we quickly set to work to prepare for our all-night
stay in the woods.

The dogs were soon unharnessed, and seemed thankful to get their heads
out of their collars. They were never tied up, neither did they ever
desert us, or take th