After the
first day's march from Back's River we were never compelled to lie in
camp for the purposes of hunting game, for when we did come upon a herd
the breech-loaders and magazine-guns did their work so effectively that
we could lay in a stock of meat for a day or two ahead.
We left Back's River behind on the last day of the year, and made about
seven miles in a south-east direction, and encamped and stopped to
hunt, the last halt we made for that purpose. The mean temperature for
December was -50.4 degrees Fahrenheit, the lowest -69 degrees, and the
highest -26 degrees. January 3d the thermometer reached the lowest
point that we saw during our sojourn in this climate--in the morning
-70 degrees, at noon -69 degrees, and at five o'clock in the afternoon
the extraordinary mark of -71 degrees. Equeesik moved his igloo about
ten miles ahead this day, but the other two igloos were compelled to
wait for their hunters to come in. The day, notwithstanding the
intensity of the cold, was very pleasant. There was scarcely a breath
of wind, and our igloo door was open the entire day. In fact, it was a
far pleasanter day to be out of doors than with 50 degrees warmer and
the wind blowing. January proved a very stormy month; indeed, there
were but eleven days in which we could travel, and we only accomplished
ninety-one miles toward our destination during that time.
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