still in the darkness of paganism. I travelled
with sixteen dogs and four Indian companions, and there was not the
least vestige of a road. This is the one great drawback; and any party
of hunters, traders, or missionaries, wishing to travel with any
rapidity, must send one of their number on ahead of the dog trains to
mark out the path with his great snow shoes as he strides along. The
skill and endurance with which this work is performed, is marvellous and
almost incredible to those who have not witnessed it. Often the country
for days together is tamely monotonous, without any striking feature in
the landscape, and without the least sign of human footsteps. Clouds
may gather and cover the whole heavens with a sombre grey mantle, so
that the white man gets bewildered and does not know south from north,
or east from west. Yet the Indian guide pushes on without hesitancy,
and with unerring accuracy.

While endeavouring to push on as rapidly as possible, we were assailed
by a fierce storm. The snowfall was so great, that, with our heavy
loads, speedy progress was an utter impossibility. We found, that we
must either lighten our loads, or be content to lose much valuable time
on the way. After talking it over with my Indians, we decided on the
former course, and so, a "cache" was made. A number of the heavier
articles were tied up in large blankets, some saplings bent down by the
stalwart men, and the bundles fastened in their tops. When let go, the
young trees sprang up, and thus held their loads so far above the ground
that they were safe from the prowling wolves or wolverines. This plan
is very much safer than that of using large trees, as up the latter many
of the wild animals can climb, and short work would be made of the
"cache."

With lightened sleds--although some of the things left behind were sadly
missed--we hurried on, and after a few days reached our destination. We
found the majority of the Indians glad to see us, and anxious for
instruction in the ways of the great Book. They had become dissatisfied
with the ways of their fathers, and had lost all faith in their
conjurers, so they listened with great attention to what we had to tell
of the Gospel of the Son of God.

While we were thus engaged in our missionary duties, blizzards were
raging through that cold northland; so that when we began the long home
journey, we discovered but few traces of the trail, which our snow shoes
and dog-trains