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

lISG8 To Barrier RiverAft era 11 the t r 0 ubI e s of t hat day, troubles which had ranged fromclimbing steep hills to floundering across mud deltas, negotiating rapids andswift water, and finally fighting a battle with extreme fear, a new relationshipformed itself between Lazarus and ourselves. No longer had we any fear that hewould turn back with us, unless the Rat itself turned on him in one of itsungovernable rages and made further progress impossible. He had shownhimself to be energetic, courageous and thoughtful and we began to rely on himwith a happy confidence. Both guides, on their part, seemed now to be more atease with us and we began to indulge in many small jokes together, which were forthe most part centred onJimmy and his goloshes. Lazarus had high boots butboth guides wore wide-brimmed hats and mosquito veils all the time. Theytaught us one of nature's preventives against mosquitoes and every day we wouldrub wet moss into the seams and weak places of our gloves; this kept off theirattacks so long as the moisture remained.The Indians, like the white men in the North, were always telling us that weshould come to the Arctic in the winter when there were no mosquitoes, andLazarus would add: "Summer no good. Always hungry. Winter I hunt. Get freshmeat." Then he would rub his stomach mournfully, even while he was devouringlarge lumps of pemmican, which was the only item in our food supply thatseemed to give any relief to the permanent hunger of our guides.That next morning, I woke Lazarus at 6: 30 and we began the day's journey bymaking a short portage, with the canoe and all our goods, across a patch ofmuskeg to a spot above the swift water where we could safely launch it again. As we