Wuat Lies Beyonp rue Mountains? 31

was kept as a reserve. Tobacco, and an occa-
sional glass of liquor, were the sole luxuries.
Even to maintain an adequate supply of fish
needed great care. These were netted through
the ice in the late autumn in great quantities,
and kept frozen until required; each man’s
daily ration was eight pounds. When the
fishery failed, many a trader was worn by
hunger before spring should open the rivers,
and had to exist as best he could on old bones
and leather. Death by starvation was not
unknown.

The life was nearly as monotonous as the
diet. The brief summer was the time of vigor-
ous exertion, since it was wholly taken up with
the journey to and from Rainy Lake. Worn
out by incessant labour and harassed by mil-
lions of mosquitoes, the voyageur was usually
not sorry when the ice formed. On the return
from Rainy Lake the men were despatched
to winter at various posts throughout the dis-
trict, each post as a rule under the command
of a clerk. The chief trader remained at Fort
Chipewyan, where he controlled the traffic
with such Indians as came to the fort, and

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