Wilson and I returned to the house in
a couple of hours, with very cold toes and fingers, and exceedingly blue
noses.

During winter we breakfasted usually at nine o'clock; then sat down to
the desk till one, when we dined. After dinner we resumed our pens till
six, when we had tea; and then wrote again till eight; after which we
either amused ourselves with books (of which we had a few), kicked up a
row, or, putting on our snow-shoes, went off to pay a moonlight visit to
our traps. On Wednesdays and Saturdays, however, we did no work, and
generally spent these days in shooting.

It is only at the few principal establishments of the Company, where the
accounts of the country are collected annually, to be forwarded to the
Hudson Bay House in London, that so much writing is necessary.

As the Christmas holidays approached, we prepared for the amusements of
that joyous season. On the morning before Christmas, a gentleman, who
had spent the first part of the winter all alone at his outpost, arrived
to pass the holidays at York Factory. We were greatly delighted to have
a new face to look at, having seen no one but ourselves since the ship
left for England, nearly four months before.

Our visitor had travelled in a dog cariole. This machine is very
narrow, just broad enough to admit one person. It is a wooden frame
covered with deer-skin parchment, painted gaudily, and is generally
drawn by four Esquimaux dogs [see note 3]. Dogs are invaluable in the
Arctic regions, where horses are utterly useless, owing to the depth of
snow which covers the earth for so large a portion of the year. The
comparatively light weight of the dogs enables them to walk without
sinking much; and even when the snow is so soft as to be incapable of
supporting them, they are still able to sprawl along more easily than
any other species of quadruped could do. Four are usually attached to a
sledge, which they haul with great vigour; being followed by a driver on
snow-shoes, whose severe lash is brought to bear so powerfully on the
backs of the poor animals, should any of them be observed to slacken
their pace, that they are continually regarding him with deprecatory
glances as they run along. Should the lash give a flourish, there is
generally a short yelp from the pack; and should it descend amongst them
with a vigorous crack, the vociferous yelling that results is perfectly
terrific. These drivers are sometimes very cruel; and when a pac