Captain Franklin having directed me to proceed with St. Germain,
Belanger, and Beauparlant to Fort Enterprise, in the hope of obtaining
relief for the party, I took leave of my companions and set out on my
journey through a very swampy country which, with the cloudy state of the
weather and a keen north-east wind, accompanied by frequent snow-showers,
retarded us so much that we had scarcely got more than four miles before
we halted for the night and made a meal of tripe de roche and some old
leather.
On the 5th we set out early amidst extremely deep snow, sinking
frequently in it up to the thighs, a labour in our enfeebled and almost
worn-out state that nothing but the cheering hopes of reaching the house
and affording relief to our friends could have enabled us to support. As
we advanced we found to our mortification that the tripe de roche,
hitherto our sole dependence, began to be scarce, so that we could only
collect sufficient to make half a kettleful which, with the addition of a
partridge each that St. Germain had killed, yielded a tolerable meal;
during this day I felt very weak and sore in the joints, particularly
between the shoulders. At eight we encamped among a small clump of
willows.
On the 6th we set out at an early hour, pursuing our route over a range
of hills at the foot of one of which we saw several large pines and a
great quantity of willows, a sight that encouraged us to quicken our pace
as we were now certain we could not be far from the woods. Indeed we were
making considerable progress when Belanger unfortunately broke through
the ice and sank up to the hips. The weather being cold, he was in danger
of freezing, but some brushwood on the borders of the lake enabled us to
make a fire to dry him. At the same time we took the opportunity of
refreshing ourselves with a kettle of swamp tea.
My increasing debility had for some time obliged me to use a stick for
the purpose of extending my arms, the pain in my shoulders being so acute
that I could not bear them to remain in the usual position for two
minutes together. We halted at five among some small brushwood and made a
sorry meal of an old pair of leather trousers and some swamp tea.
The night was cold with a hard frost and though two persons slept
together yet we could not by any means keep ourselves warm, but remained
trembling the whole time. The following morning we crossed several lakes,
occasionally seeing the recent tracks of deer, and at noon we fell upon
Marten Lake; it happened to be at the exact spot where we had been the
last year with the canoes yet, though I immediately recognised the place,
the men would not believe it to be the same; at length by pointing out
several marks and relating circumstances connected with them they
recovered their memory, and a simultaneous expression of "Mon Dieu, nous
sommes sauves," broke from the whole.
