60 THE CARIBOO TRAIL

each tent. In the company was one woman,
with two children. She was an Irishwoman ;
but she bore the name of Shubert, from which
we may infer that her husband was not an
Irishman.

sunday having intervened, the travellers did
not reach Portage la Prairie until the fourth
day out. Another week passed before they
atrived at Fort Ellice. Heavy rains came on
now, and James M‘Kay, chief trader at Fort
Ellice, opened his doors to the gold-seekers.
Harness and carts repaired and morepemmican
bought, the travellers crossed the Qu’Appelle
river in a Hudson’s Bay scow, paying toll of
fifty cents acart. From the Qu’Appelle west-
ward the journey grew more arduous. The
weather became oppressively hot and mosqui-
toes swarmed from the sloughs. At Carlton
and at Fort Pitt the fur-traders’ ‘ string band’
—husky-dogs in wolfish packs—surrounded
the camp of the Overlanders and stole pemmi-
can from under the tent-flaps. From Fort
Pitt westward the trail crossed a rough,
wooded country, and there were no more scows
to take the ox-carts across the rivers. Eleven
days of continuous rain had flooded the sloughs
into swamps; and in three days as many as
eight corduroy bridges had to be built. Two

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