The slope of these hills was usually so steep that we had to take the
dogs off the sledges and let them run down upon the lakes by gravity.
This was an exciting but not very dangerous method of travelling. So
rapid would be the descent, that we had all we could do to hold on to
the sleds trying to retard their progress. Some would be taking steps
ten feet long, while others, with their feet planted straight out
before them, were ploughing up the snow and scattering it in every
direction. The dogs followed behind the sleds, running and barking,
some of them, entangled in their harness, rolling over and dragged
along by their swifter comrades. We were gratified to see plenty of
reindeer nearly every day, as it relieved our anxiety concerning our
commissariat. The ice upon the fresh-water lakes where we encamped
averaged about six and a half feet. An occasional salmon is caught
through the water hole by one of the women, who usually drop a line in
after the hole is made.

[Illustration: DOWN-HILL WITH THE SLEDGES.]

The sun for the last three days had been insufferably hot, and my
forehead and face were blistered painfully. It was altogether a new
experience to have my nose blistered on one side by the sun, and on the
other by a frost-bite. During my first winter in this country my nose
was particularly tender. I could scarcely go out of doors without
having it nipped. There is no pain in a frost-bite, but the cold upon
my nose would cause me much suffering when first exposed to it, without
exciting the least sympathy in my companions; but just as it would
begin to feel comfortable once more, some one would run up and tell me,
"Tling-yack quark" (Nose frozen), at the same time pressing a
warm hand against it to thaw it out. The person who has the frozen nose
is almost invariably surprised when informed of the fact. During winter