However we left the matter to be settled by our friends at the fort who were more conversant with winter travelling than ourselves.
Indeed the loads appeared to us so great that we should have been inclined to listen to the complaints of the drivers.

The weight usually placed upon a sledge drawn by three dogs cannot at the commencement of a journey be estimated at less than three hundred pounds, which however suffers a daily diminution from the consumption of provisions.

The sledge itself weighs about thirty pounds.

When the snow is hard frozen or the track well trodden the rate of travelling is about two miles and a half an hour, including rests, or about fifteen miles a day.

If the snow be loose the speed is necessarily much less and the fatigue greater.
At eight in the morning of the 18th we quitted the fort and took leave of our hospitable friend Governor Williams whose kindness and attention I shall ever remember with gratitude.