mounds and bushes. Every now and
then the crack of a whip and the yelp of a dog announced the finding of
a truant. Two trackers on large snowshoes had already gone ahead to
break the trail. It was easy to follow their tracks though the woods
were still in darkness and remained so for several hours. At dawn
Oo-koo-hoo and our little outfit parted company with the Dog Brigade.
Already the packet was many miles ahead. As I turned on my western
way, I thought of the work of these postmen of the wilderness, of the
hardships they endured, and the perils they braved; and the Chief
Factor's assertion that no packet had ever been lost beyond recovery,
recalled to mind other stories that were worth remembering: For
instance, a canoe express was descending the Mackenzie River; the canoe
was smashed in an ice jam, and the packeteers were drowned. A few
weeks later passing Indians caught sight of a stick bobbing in the
surface of the stream. Though the water was deep and the current was
running at the rate of three miles an hour, the stick remained in the
same place. So the Indians paddled over to investigate. They found
that to the floating stick was fastened a long thong, which on being
pulled up brought the missing packet to light.

Again, while making camp near the Athabasca River, the packeteers had
slung the packet in a tree, the usual place for it while in camp.
During the night their fire spread and burned up the whole equipment
except the tree, which, being green, received little more than a
scorching. The packet was unharmed.

On Great Slave Lake during a fierce snowstorm the packeteers became
separated from their dogs, and were frozen to death. But the packet
was recovered.

In one autumn two packeteers journeying from George's River Post to
Ungava Post drew up their canoe on a sandy beach, and camped beneath a
high, overhanging bank. During the night the bank gave way and buried
them as they slept. When the ice formed, the trader at Ungava sent out
two men to search for the missing packet. They found the canoe on the
beach; and from the appearance of the bank, conjectured what had
happened. Next spring the landslide was dug into, and the packeteers
were found both lying under the same blanket, their heads resting upon
the packet.

VI

WILD ANIMALS AND MEN

WOLVERINE AND HUNTER

One evening, while sitting before the fire in Oo-koo-hoo's lodge, we
heard sounds that told us that Amik had retur