CHAPTER IV.
State of things at Repulse Bay—Determine to discontinue the survey till the spring—Reasons—Party sent to bring over the boat—Fix on a site for winter residence—Ptarmigan—Laughing geese—Eider and king ducks—Visits of natives too frequent—Return of the party sent for the boat—Report the bay more closely packed than before—Preparations for wintering—Fort Hope built—Proceed to North Pole and Christie Lakes to look out for fishing stations—Purchase dogs—Wariness of the deer—Flocks of geese pass southward—Blue-winged and snow-geese—Their habits—Snow-storm—Its effects—Return to Fort Hope—Daily routine—Signs of winter—Deer numerous—Quantity of game killed—Provision-store built of snow—Great fall of snow—Effects of the cold—Adventure with a deer—Visited by a party of natives—Their report of the ice westward of Melville Peninsula—An island said to be wooded—Produce of the chase in October—Temperature—Two observatories built of snow—Band of wolves—A party caught in a snow-storm—Esquimaux theory of the heavenly bodies—Temperature of November—Diminished supply of provisions