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CHAPTER XIIL FORT HOPE, ^ p^^HE site of tbe new fort was now finally determined on. It ^'^ would be impossible to find a better situation than on the ^^2^^^^ level ground behind Cape Bathurst, on the eastern bank of the lagoon. Hobson determined to commence the construction of the principal house at once. Meanwhile all must accommodate them- selves as best they could; and the sledges were ingeniously utilised to form a provisional encampment. His men being very skilful, the Lieutenant hoped to have the principal house ready in a month. It was to be large enough to accommodate for a time the nineteen persons of the party. Later, and before the excessive cold set in, if there should be time, the barracks for the soldiers and the magazines for the furs and skins were to be built. There was not much chance of getting it all done before the end of September; and after that date, the winter, with its first bitter frosts and long nights, would arrest all further progress. Of the ten soldiers chosen by Captain Craventy, two — Marbre and Sabine — were skilful hunters; the other eight handled the hatchet with as much address as the musket. Like sailors, they could turn their hands to anything, and were now to be treated more like work- men than soldiers, for they were to build a fort which there was as yet no enemy to attack. Petersen, Belcher, Rae, Garry, Pond, Hope, and Kellet formed a body of clever, zealous carpenters, under the able superintendence of Mac-Nab, a Scotchman from Stirling, who had had considerable experience in the building both of houses and boats. The men were well provided with tools — hatchets, centre- bits, adzes, planes, hand-saws, mallets, hammers, chisels, <fec. <fec. Rae was most skilful at blacksmith's work, and with the aid of a little portable forge he was able to make all the pins, tenons, bolts, nails, screws, nuts, &c., required in carpentry. They had no mason in the party; but none was wanted, as all the buildings of the factories in the north are of wood. Fortunately there were plenty of trees about