We, too, had our doubts as to its utility; but, as
it was the best obtainable, Hubbard accepted it thankfully and
Mackenzie had two of his men unravel it and patch it up.

During the afternoon we got our outfit in shape, ready for the start in
the morning. Following is a summary of the outfit taken from an
inventory made at Indian Harbour: Our canoe was 18 feet long, canvas
covered, and weighed about 80 pounds. The tent was of the type known
as miner's, 6 1/2 x 7 feet, made of balloon silk and waterproofed. We
had three pairs of blankets and one single blanket; two tarpaulins;
five duck waterproof bags; one dozen small waterproof bags of balloon
silk for note books; two .45-70 Winchester rifles; two 10-inch barrel
.22-calibre pistols for shooting grouse and other small game; 200
rounds of .45-70 and 1,000 rounds of .22-calibre cartridges; 3 1/4 x 4
1/4 pocket folding kodak with Turner-Reich Verastigmat lens; thirty
rolls of films of one dozen exposures each, in tin cans, waterproofed
with electricians' tape; a sextant and artificial horizon; two
compasses and our cooking utensils and clothing.

At Indian Harbour we had four 45-pound sacks of flour, but Hubbard gave
one sack to the pilot of the Julia Sheridan, and out of another sack he
had given the cook on the Julia sufficient flour for one baking of
bread, and we had also used some of this bag on our way from Indian
Harbour to Rigolet. This left two 45-pound bags and about thirty
pounds in the third bag, or 120 pounds in all. There were, perhaps, 25
pounds of bacon, 13 pounds lard, 20 pounds flavoured pea meal, 9 pounds
plain pea flour in tins, 10 pounds tea, 5 pounds coffee, 8 pounds
hardtack, 10 pounds milk powder, 10 pounds rice, 8 pounds dried apples,
7 pounds salt, 7 or 8 pounds tobacco and 30 pounds sugar.

This outfit, it will be remembered, was designed for three men. Hubbard
tried to hire some of the native to accompany us a few miles into the
interior and carry additional provisions that we might cache, but
failed; they were all "too busy."

Mackenzie treated us royally during the evening we spent at his post,
and we enjoyed his hospitality to the utmost, knowing that it was to be
our last night under shelter for weeks to come. Now we were on the
very edge of the wilderness. To-morrow we should enter the unknown.

IV. THE PLUNGE INTO THE WILD

It was nine o'clock on Wednesday morning, July 15, that we made the
start. Our canoe, laden de