C Ihe Ladies c cu. V'VVAN - History and Classics, Department of

II2THE LADIES, THE GWICH'IN, AND THE RATon the far side of one of those islands, how should we ever know? We began topace up and down, nursing our thoughts, saying futile things, "Surely they'll behere soon. Perhaps they've met a lot of snags." "It may be the river is curved onthe other side and they have further to go, "Our eyes were glued to the other bank, they ached with intensity of staring.Gwen kept on murmuring calculations and suggestions to explain their delay. Mymind was fixed on our chances of survival, alone in this wilderness; there wouldbe none I decided. Except for the biscuits that Lazarus had thrown across to us wehad no food in our packs, Half a mile back we had seen a duck's nest with seveneggs, but the bird was sitting and those eggs would probably be uneatable, FortMcPherson might be only a few days march distant, on the map, but, alone, wecould never cross the currents nor the mud shores of the many tributaries. Aheadof us was La Pierre House, an empty hut perhaps 150 miles away, and beyond thathut no human dwelling on this side of Old Crow which was another hundred ormore miles down the river.For the first time I realised how the mere size of a lone country may constitutea threat to the helpless creature whom we call man. Communications, communications,communications, I thought to myself. Trams, steamers, cars, waggons,horses, it is only by their bringing us food that we are kept alive. Here, on theRat, there are none of these things. Only Lazarus andJimmy stood between usand starvation. And what had become of them? At this point I ceased to think,for my whole being had become a white-hot point of fear. Nor had I any outletfor expression of this fear except to keep my eyes fixed on the other river bank. Itwas a rigid state for mind and body, and I imagine that it lasted for quite half anhour. Then suddenly we were aware of human movement, not on the far shorebut close beside us and there was Lazarus walking along our bank to tell us thatthey had met swift water and had been forced to cross back again to our side andJimmy was making camp a little lower down. We went back to a beautiful campamong spruces and now that our troubles were over, felt fresh and activealthough we had been travelling for about 14 hours. Drinking much tea andrefreshing draughts of water from the river had kept us in good condition.All fear was forgotten. The muddy crossings of that day, the steep climbs, thestruggle with undergrowth, the bewildering maze of islands, all these were behindus. Lazarus had proved his worth in every possible way and we began to feel trustin him. We agreed that except for mosquitoes this was a paradise. Mter supper,we talked to Lazarus over the campfire, though this was difficult, for his English