retrospection of the melancholy events of the day banished sleep; and we shuddered as we contemplated the dreadful effects of this bitterly cold night on our late companions, if still living. Some faint hopes were entertained of Crédit surviving the storm, as he was provided with a good blanket, and had some leather to eat.”
“The weather was mild next morning. We left the encampment at nine, and, a little before noon, came to a pretty extensive thicket of small willows, near which there appeared a supply of tripe de roche on the face of the rocks. At this place, Dr. Richardson and Mr. Hood determined to remain with John Hepburn, who volunteered to stop with them. Their tent was securely pitched, a few willows were collected, and the ammunition and all other articles deposited, except each man’s clothing, the other tent, a sufficiency of ammunition for the journey, and the officers’ journals. I had only one blanket, which was carried for me, and two pair of shoes. The offer was now made for any of the men, who felt themselves too weak to proceed, to remain behind; but none of them accepted it. Michel, the Iroquois, alone felt some inclination to do so. After we had united in thanksgiving and prayers to Almighty God, I separated from my friends, deeply affected that a train of melancholy circumstances should have demanded of me the severe trial of parting, in such a condition, from persons who had become endeared to me by their constant kindness and co-operation, and a participation of numerous sufferings.
“We set out without waiting to take any of the tripe de roche; and the labour of wading through the snow so fatigued the whole of us, that we were compelled to halt, after a march of four miles and a half. J. B. Belanger and Michel were left far behind, and, when they joined us, appeared quite exhausted. The former, bursting into tears, declared his inability to proceed, and both of them begged me to let them go back next morning. the sudden failure in the strength of these men cast a gloom over the rest, which I tried in vain to remove, by repeated assurances that the distance to Fort Enterprise was short, and that we should, in all probability, reach it in four days. Not being able to find any tripe de roche, we drank an infusion of the Labrador tea plant (ledum pulustre), and ate a few morsels of burnt leather for supper. We were unable to raise the tent, and found its weight too great to carry it on; we therefore cut it up, and each person took a part of the canvass for a cover. The night was bitterly cold, and though we lay as close to each other as possible, having no shelter, we could not keep ourselves sufficiently warm to sleep.
“In the morning of the 8th, Belanger and Michel renewed their request to be permitted to go back to the officers’ encampment, assuring me they were still weaker than on the preceding evening, and urging that the stopping at a place where there was a supply of tripe de roche was their
