We Had No Means Of Making A Fire To Thaw Them,
The Moss, At All Times Difficult To Kindle, Being Now Covered With Ice
And Snow.
A considerable time was consumed in packing up the frozen tents
and bed clothes, the wind blowing so strong that no one could keep his
hands long out of his mittens.
Just as we were about to commence our march I was seized with a fainting
fit in consequence of exhaustion and sudden exposure to the wind but,
after eating a morsel of portable soup, I recovered so far as to be able
to move on. I was unwilling at first to take this morsel of soup, which
was diminishing the small and only remaining meal for the party, but
several of the men urged me to it with much kindness. The ground was
covered a foot deep with snow, the margins of the lakes were encrusted
with ice, and the swamps over which we had to pass were entirely frozen
but the ice, not being sufficiently strong to bear us, we frequently
plunged knee-deep in water. Those who carried the canoes were repeatedly
blown down by the violence of the wind and they often fell from making an
insecure step on a slippery stone; on one of these occasions the largest
canoe was so much broken as to be rendered utterly unserviceable. This we
felt was a serious disaster as the remaining canoe having through mistake
been made too small, it was doubtful whether it would be sufficient to
carry us across a river. Indeed we had found it necessary in crossing
Hood's River to lash the two canoes together. As there was some suspicion
that Benoit, who carried the canoe, had broken it intentionally, he
having on a former occasion been overheard by some of the men to say that
he would do so when he got it in charge, we closely examined him on the
point; he roundly denied having used the expressions attributed to him,
and insisted that it was broken by his falling accidentally and, as he
brought men to attest the latter fact who saw him tumble, we did not
press the matter further. I may here remark that our people had murmured
a good deal at having to carry two canoes, though they were informed of
the necessity of taking both in case it should be deemed advisable to
divide the party, which it had been thought probable we should be obliged
to do if animals proved scarce, in order to give the whole the better
chance of procuring subsistence, and also for the purpose of sending
forward some of the best walkers to search for Indians and to get them to
meet us with supplies of provision. The power of doing this was now at an
end. As the accident could not be remedied we turned it to the best
account by making a fire of the bark and timbers of the broken vessel and
cooked the remainder of our portable soup and arrowroot. This was a
scanty meal after three days' fasting but it served to allay the pangs of
hunger and enabled us to proceed at a quicker pace than before. The depth
of the snow caused us to march in Indian file, that is in each other's
steps, the voyagers taking it in turn to lead the party. A distant object
was pointed out to this man in the direction we wished to take and Mr.
Hood followed immediately behind him to renew the bearings and keep him
from deviating more than could be helped from the mark. It may be here
observed that we proceeded in this manner throughout our route across the
barren grounds.
In the afternoon we got into a more hilly country where the ground was
strewed with large stones. The surface of these was covered with lichens
of the genus gyrophora which the Canadians term tripe de roche. A
considerable quantity was gathered and with half a partridge each (which
we shot in the course of the day) furnished a slender supper which we
cooked with a few willows dug up from beneath the snow. We passed a
comfortless night in our damp clothes but took the precaution of sleeping
upon our socks and shoes to prevent them from freezing. This plan was
afterwards adopted throughout the journey.
At half-past five in the morning we proceeded and after walking about two
miles came to Cracroft's River, flowing to the westward with a very rapid
current over a rocky channel. We had much difficulty in crossing this,
the canoe being useless, not only from the bottom of the channel being
obstructed by large stones, but also from its requiring gumming, an
operation which, owing to the want of wood and the frost, we were unable
to perform. However after following the course of the river some distance
we effected a passage by means of a range of large rocks that crossed a
rapid. As the current was strong and many of the rocks were covered with
water to the depth of two or three feet, the men were exposed to much
danger in carrying their heavy burdens across, and several of them
actually slipped into the stream but were immediately rescued by the
others. Junius went farther up the river in search of a better
crossing-place and did not rejoin us this day. As several of the party
were drenched from head to foot and we were all wet to the middle, our
clothes became stiff with the frost and we walked with much pain for the
remainder of the day. The march was continued to a late hour from our
anxiety to rejoin the hunters who had gone before, but we were obliged to
encamp at the end of ten miles and a quarter without seeing them. Our
only meal today consisted of a partridge each (which the hunters shot)
mixed with tripe de roche.
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