A Few Willows Whose Tops
Were Seen Peeping Through The Snow In The Bottom Of The Valley Were
Quickly Grubbed, The Tents Pitched, And Supper Cooked And Devoured With
Avidity.
This was the sixth day since we had had a good meal, the tripe
de roche, even where we got enough, only serving to allay the pangs of
hunger for a short time.
After supper two of the hunters went in pursuit
of the herd but could not get near them. I do not think that we witnessed
through the course of our journey a more striking proof of the wise
dispensation of the Almighty and of the weakness of our own judgment than
on this day. We had considered the dense fog which prevailed throughout
the morning as almost the greatest inconvenience that could have befallen
us, since it rendered the air extremely cold and prevented us from
distinguishing any distant object towards which our course could be
directed. Yet this very darkness enabled the party to get to the top of
the hill which bounded the valley wherein the musk-oxen were grazing
without being perceived. Had the herd discovered us and taken alarm our
hunters in their present state of debility would in all probability have
failed in approaching them.
We were detained all the next day by a strong southerly wind and were
much incommoded in the tents by the drift snow. The temperature was 20
degrees. The average for the last ten days about 24 degrees. We
restricted ourselves to one meal this day as we were at rest and there
was only meat remaining sufficient for the morrow.
The gale had not diminished on the 12th and, as we were fearful of its
continuance for some time, we determined on going forward; our only doubt
regarded the preservation of the canoe, but the men promised to pay
particular attention to it, and the most careful persons were appointed
to take it in charge. The snow was two feet deep and the ground much
broken, which rendered the march extremely painful. The whole party
complained more of faintness and weakness than they had ever done before;
their strength seemed to have been impaired by the recent supply of
animal food. In the afternoon the wind abated and the snow ceased;
cheered with the change we proceeded forward at a quicker pace and
encamped at six P.M. having come eleven miles. Our supper consumed the
last of our meat.
We set out on the 13th in thick hazy weather and, after an hour's march,
had the extreme mortification to find ourselves on the borders of a large
lake; neither of its extremities could be seen and, as the portion which
lay to the east seemed the widest, we coasted along to the westward
portion in search of a crossing-place. This lake being bounded by steep
and lofty hills our march was very fatiguing. Those sides which were
exposed to the sun were free from snow and we found upon them some
excellent berries. We encamped at six P.M. having come only six miles and
a half. Credit was then missing and he did not return during the night.
We supped off a single partridge and some tripe de roche; this
unpalatable weed was now quite nauseous to the whole party and in several
it produced bowel complaints. Mr. Hood was the greatest sufferer from
this cause. This evening we were extremely distressed at discovering that
our improvident companions since we left Hood's River had thrown away
three of the fishing-nets and burnt the floats; they knew we had brought
them to procure subsistence for the party when the animals should fail,
and we could scarcely believe the fact of their having wilfully deprived
themselves of this resource, especially when we considered that most of
them had passed the greater part of their servitude in situations where
the nets alone had supplied them with food. Being thus deprived of our
principal resource, that of fishing, and the men evidently getting weaker
every day, it became necessary to lighten their burdens of everything
except ammunition, clothing, and the instruments that were required to
find our way. I therefore issued directions to deposit at this encampment
the dipping needle, azimuth compass, magnet, a large thermometer, and a
few books we had carried, having torn out of these such parts as we
should require to work the observations for latitude and longitude. I
also promised, as an excitement to the efforts in hunting, my gun to St.
Germain, and an ample compensation to Adam or any of the other men who
should kill any animals. Mr. Hood on this occasion lent his gun to Michel
the Iroquois, who was very eager in the chase and often successful.
September 14.
This morning, the officers being assembled round a small fire, Perrault
presented each of us with a small piece of meat which he had saved from
his allowance. It was received with great thankfulness, and such an act
of self-denial and kindness being totally unexpected in a Canadian
voyager filled our eyes with tears. In directing our course to a river
issuing from the lake we met Credit who communicated the joyful
intelligence of his having killed two deer in the morning. We instantly
halted and, having shared the deer that was nearest to us, prepared
breakfast. After which the other deer was sent for and we went down to
the river, which was about three hundred yards wide and flowed with great
velocity through a broken rocky channel. Having searched for a part where
the current was most smooth, the canoe was placed in the water at the
head of a rapid, and St. Germain, Solomon Belanger, and I embarked in
order to cross. We went from the shore very well, but in mid-channel the
canoe became difficult to manage under our burden as the breeze was
fresh. The current drove us to the edge of the rapid, when Belanger
unluckily applied his paddle to avert the apparent danger of being forced
down it, and lost his balance.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 142 of 172
Words from 144423 to 145446
of 176017
