. The Canadian field-naturalist. Natural history. March, 1919] The Ottawa Naturalist 167 as I did, and find that the dogs had swallowed the grub pile, is no joke. The only thing one can do till he gets to the next Indian house is to 'tighten his belt.' I am now resting up after that trip. I was to go down to Fort Simpson, but there was no food there for the dogs, so I had to give it up. There is no fish for the dogs down the Mackenzie, as many of the nets were ; It may be said that the trip from Hay river to Fort Chipewayan is considerably over three hundred miles with but two posts
. The Canadian field-naturalist. Natural history. March, 1919] The Ottawa Naturalist 167 as I did, and find that the dogs had swallowed the grub pile, is no joke. The only thing one can do till he gets to the next Indian house is to 'tighten his belt.' I am now resting up after that trip. I was to go down to Fort Simpson, but there was no food there for the dogs, so I had to give it up. There is no fish for the dogs down the Mackenzie, as many of the nets were ; It may be said that the trip from Hay river to Fort Chipewayan is considerably over three hundred miles with but two posts en route, Forts Resolution and Smith. So that the loss of one's provisions in the terrible cold of last winter, would be indeed, as Mr. Bowring puts it, "no joke". In a letter to Dr. Kindle, dated April 26, 1918, Inspector Anderson, of the Royal North-West Mounted Police, at Fort Smith, tells of a patrol which he made from the latter place to Fort Simp- son. He says: "I had a very hard trip on account of the very cold and stormy weather and the un- usual depth of snow. I escaped with a few frost- bites, a common occurrence in this country. It is not such a picnic travelling in winter time here. I have had some tough trips in my time in the police force, but this last one takes the cake. Snow has been very deep and over 60' below zero on my patrol. I camped at Jackfish Point at the outlet of Great Slave lake without enough wood to keep the fire going all night we had to let it go out; no tent, no stove; it was what you may call cold. "The caribou have moved away from here. One thousand head in a bunch were seen crossing Great Slave lake in March, going toward the Barren Grounds, all females. The males will follow later. Male stragglers only are left near here, about three or four days out (, days' journey from Fort Smith). If it had not been for the caribou con- siderable hardship would have been experienced among the natives. The snow is gradually going
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