Mr. Isbester And An Orkney Man Joined Us From Cumberland House And
Brought Some Pemmican That We Had Left Behind, A Supply Which Was Very
Seasonable After Our Recent Loss.
The general occupation of Mr. Isbester
during the winter is to follow or find out the Indians and collect their
furs, and his present journey will appear adventurous to persons
accustomed to the certainty of travelling on a well-known road.
He was
going in search of a band of Indians of whom no information had been
received since last October, and his only guide for finding them was
their promise to hunt in a certain quarter; but he looked at the jaunt
with indifference and calculated on meeting them in six or seven days,
for which time only he had provision. Few persons in this country suffer
more from want of food than those occasionally do who are employed on
this service. They are furnished with a sufficiency of provision to serve
until they reach the part where the Indians are expected to be; but it
frequently occurs that on their arrival at the spot they have gone
elsewhere, and that a recent fall of snow has hidden their track, in
which case the voyagers have to wander about in search of them; and it
often happens when they succeed in finding the Indians that they are
unprovided with meat. Mr. Isbester had been placed in this distressing
situation only a few weeks ago and passed four days without either
himself or his dogs tasting food.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 137 of 649
Words from 36849 to 37105
of 176017
