was, which he at first seemed desirous to do), and set out, having bid each of us farewell in the tenderest manner.
“The party was now reduced to five persons, Jean Baptiste Adam, Joseph Peltier, Joseph Benoit, François Samandré, and myself.
“Next morning the wind was moderate and the weather mild, which enabled us to collect some tripe de roche, and to enjoy the only meal we had had for four days. Without the strength it supplied, we should certainly have been unable to oppose the strong breeze we met in the afternoon. At length (on the 11th of October) 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, nor no letter from Mr. Wentzel to point out where they 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 them immediate relief.
“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 proposed walking on to Fort Providence, and sending succour from thence; but he doubted whether he or his party could perform the journey to that place in their present debilitated state.
“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 here. The bones were gathered from the heap of ashes, and 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. The temperature was now between 15° and 20° 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 appearance 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 as a remarkable proof of sagacity.
“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 quite 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. On the 13th, the wind blew violently from S.E., and the snow drifted so much that the party were confined to the house. In the afternoon of the following day, Solomon Belanger arrived with a note
