486 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



* 



day was cloudy, with snow and fresh breezes from the north-east 

 by east. 



The last evening, as well as this morning, the 19th, I mentioned 

 my wishes to the men, that we should proceed towards Kein-Deer 

 Lake, but this proposal met with a direct refusal. Belanger stated his 

 inability to move, and St. Germain used similar language ; adding, for 

 the first time, that he did not know the route, and that it was of no 

 use to go in the direction I mentioned, which was the one agreed 

 upon between the Commander and myself. I then insisted that we 

 should go by the known route, and join the Commander, but they 

 would not hear of it ; they would remain where they were until they 

 had regained their strength ; they said I wanted to expose them 

 again to death (faire perirj . In vain did I use every argument to the 

 contrary, for they were equally heedless to all. Thus situated, I 

 was compelled to remain, and from this time to the 25 th we em- 

 ployed ourselves in looking about for the remnants of the deer and 

 pieces of skin, which even the wolves had left ; and by pounding 

 the bones, we were enabled to make a sort of soup, which strength- 

 ened us greatly, though each still complained of weakness. It was 

 not without the greatest difficulty that I could restrain the men 

 from eating every scrap they found, though they were well aware of 

 the necessity there was of being economical in our present situation, 

 and to save whatever they could for our journey ; yet they could not 

 resist the temptation, and directly my back was turned they seldom 

 failed to snatch at the nearest piece to them, whether cooked or raw 

 it made no difference. 



We had set fishing-lines, but without any success ; and we often saw 

 large herds of deer crossing the lake at full speed, and wolves pur- 

 suing them. 



The night of the 25th was cold, with hard frost. Early the next 

 morning I sent the men to cover the body of our departed compa- 

 nion Beauparlant with the trunks and branches of trees, which they 



