II. OFF AT LAST

Labrador's uncertain game supply presented more than one vexed
problem for Hubbard to solve. Naturally it would be desirable to
take with us sufficient provisions to guard against all
contingencies; but such were the conditions of the country for
which we were bound, that if the expedition were at all heavily
loaded it would be impossible for it to make any headway. Hubbard,
therefore, decided to travel light. Then arose the question as to
how many men to take with us. If the party were large--that is, up
to a certain limit--more food might possibly be carried for each
member than if the party were small; but if game proved plentiful,
there would be no danger from starvation whether the party were
large or small; for then short stops could be made to kill animals,
dry the flesh and make caches, after the manner of the Indians, as
supply bases to fall back upon should we be overtaken by an early
winter. And if the game should prove scarce, a small party could
kill, on a forced march, nearly, if not quite, as much as a large
party; and requiring a proportionately smaller amount of food to
maintain it, would consequently have a better chance of success.
Taking all things into consideration, Hubbard decided that the
party should be small.

To guard against possible disappointment in the way of getting men,
Hubbard wrote to the agent of the Hudson's Bay Company at Rigolet,
asking whether any could be obtained for a trip into the interior
either at that post or at Northwest River. The agent replied that