toboggan slides.

There are various breeds of dogs used in that country, but the most
common are the Eskimos. They are strong and hardy, and when well
trained are capital fellows for their work; but beyond that they are
incorrigible thieves and unmitigated nuisances.

Other breeds have been introduced into the country, such as the Saint
Bernard and the Newfoundlands. These have all the good qualities of the
Eskimos, and are happily free from their blemishes. Some few Scottish
stag-hounds, and other dogs of the hound varieties, have been brought in
by Hudson Bay officers and others; but while they make very swift
trains, they can only be used for short trips, as they are too tender to
stand the bitter cold and exposure, or the long and difficult journeys,
often of many days' duration, through the wild and desolate regions.

The various articles for the long journey were speedily gathered
together and the sleds carefully packed. Preparing for such a journey
is a very different thing from getting ready for a trip in a civilised
land. Here the missionary and his Indian companions were going about
three hundred miles into the wilderness, where they would not see a
house or any kind of human habitation from the time they left their
homes until they reached their destination. They would not see the
least vestige of a road.

They would make their own trail on snow-shoes all that distance, except
when on the frozen lakes and rivers, where snow-shoes would be exchanged
for skates by some, while the others only used their moccasins. Every
night, when the toilsome day's travel was over, they would have to sleep
in the snow in their own bed, which they carried with them. Their meals
they would cook at camp fires, which they would build when required, as
they hurried along. So we can easily see that a variety of things would
have to be packed on the dog-sleds. Let us watch the old, experienced
guide and the dog drivers as they attend to this work.

The heaviest item of the load is the supply of fish for the dogs. As
this trip is to be such a long one, each sled must carry over two
hundredweight of fish. Then the food for the missionary and his
Indians, which consists principally of fat meat, is the next heaviest
item. Then there are the kettles, and axes, and dishes, and numerous
robes and blankets and changes of clothing, and a number of other
things, to be ready for every emergency or accident; for they are going