This proving insufficient to warm us
or even thaw our shoes, and having no food to prepare, we crept under our
blankets. The arrival in a well-known part raised the spirits of the men
to a high pitch, and we kept up a cheerful conversation until sleep
overpowered us. The night was very stormy and the morning scarcely less
so but, being desirous to reach the house this day, we commenced our
journey very early. We were gratified by the sight of a large herd of
reindeer on the side of the hill near the track, but our only hunter Adam
was too feeble to pursue them. Our shoes and garments were stiffened by
the frost and we walked in great pain until we arrived at some stunted
pines, at which we halted, made a good fire, and procured the refreshment
of tea. The weather becoming fine in the afternoon we continued our
journey, passed the Dog-Rib Rock, and encamped among a clump of pines of
considerable growth about a mile farther on. Here we enjoyed the comfort
of a large fire for the first time since our departure from the
sea-coast, but this gratification was purchased at the expense of many
severe falls in crossing a stony valley to get to these trees. There was
no tripe de roche and we drank tea and ate some of our shoes for supper.
Next morning after taking the usual repast of tea we proceeded to the
house. Musing on what we were likely to find there our minds were
agitated between hope and fear and, contrary to the custom we had kept up
of supporting our spirits by conversation, we went silently forward.
DESOLATE STATE OF FORT ENTERPRISE.
At length we reached Fort Enterprise and to our infinite disappointment
and grief found it a perfectly desolate habitation. There was no deposit
of provision, no trace of the Indians, no letter from Mr. Wentzel to
point out where the Indians might be found. It would be impossible to
describe our sensations after entering this miserable abode and
discovering how we had been neglected; the whole party shed tears, not so
much for our own fate as for that of our friends in the rear, whose lives
depended entirely on our sending immediate relief from this place.
I found a note however from Mr. Back, stating that he had reached the
house two days before and was going in search of the Indians at a part
where St. Germain deemed it probable they might be found. If he was
unsuccessful he purposed walking to Fort Providence and sending succour
from thence, but he doubted whether either he or his party could perform
the journey to that place in their present debilitated state. It was
evident that any supply that could be sent from Fort Providence would be
long in reaching us, neither could it be sufficient to enable us to
afford any assistance to our companions behind, and that the only relief
for them must be procured from the Indians. I resolved therefore on going
also in search of them, but my companions were absolutely incapable of
proceeding and I thought by halting two or three days they might gather a
little strength whilst the delay would afford us the chance of learning
whether Mr. Back had seen the Indians.
DISTRESS SUFFERED AT THAT PLACE.
We now looked round for the means of subsistence and were gratified to
find several deer-skins which had been thrown away during our former
residence. The bones were gathered from the heap of ashes; these with the
skins and the addition of tripe de roche we considered would support us
tolerably well for a time. As to the house, the parchment being torn from
the windows, the apartment we selected for our abode was exposed to all
the rigour of the season. We endeavoured to exclude the wind as much as
possible by placing loose boards against the apertures. The temperature
was now between 15 and 20 degrees below zero. We procured fuel by pulling
up the flooring of the other rooms, and water for cooking by melting the
snow. Whilst we were seated round the fire, singeing the deer-skin for
supper, we were rejoiced by the unexpected entrance of Augustus. He had
followed quite a different course from ours and the circumstance of his
having found his way through a part of the country he had never been in
before must be considered a remarkable proof of sagacity. The unusual
earliness of this winter became manifest to us from the state of things
at this spot. Last year at the same season and still later there had been
very little snow on the ground and we were surrounded by vast herds of
reindeer; now there were but few recent tracks of these animals and the
snow was upwards of two feet deep. Winter River was then open, now it was
frozen two feet thick.
When I arose the following morning my body and limbs were so swollen that
I was unable to walk more than a few yards. Adam was in a still worse
condition, being absolutely incapable of rising without assistance. My
other companions happily experienced this inconvenience in a less degree
and went to collect bones and some tripe de roche which supplied us with
two meals. The bones were quite acrid and the soup extracted from them
excoriated the mouth if taken alone, but it was somewhat milder when
boiled with tripe de roche and we even thought the mixture palatable with
the addition of salt, of which a cask had been fortunately left here in
the spring.
