294 THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE BY LAND. 



between the different ranges afforded tlie only means of 

 egress. On this evening we ate our last morsel of 

 pemmican, and the only food we had left was about 

 a quart of flour. The distance from Tete Jaune 

 Cache to Kamloops was, according to our map, about 

 200 miles ; but this estimate might be very erroneous, 

 the exact latitude of either being probably unknown 

 when our map was made. Calculating that we had 

 travelled ten miles a day, or seventy miles, when the 

 road ended, and had done three miles a day, or thirty 

 altogether, since we began to cut our way, we had 

 still 100 miles to travel before reaching the Fort. 

 Nearly the whole of this distance might be country 

 similar to what we had already encountered. At any 

 rate, the prospect around gave us no hope of speedy 

 change for the better. We progressed so slowly, at 

 the best only five or six miles a day — often not one — 

 that it must take us many days yet to get in. There 

 seemed no chance of any assistance, for since leaving 

 Slaughter Camp we had seen no sign that man had 

 ever before visited this dismal region. No axe mark 

 on a tree, no "blaze" or broken twig, no remains of an 

 old camp fire had greeted our eyes. Animal life was 

 scarce, and the solemn stillness, unbroken by note of 

 bird or sound of living creature, and the deep gloom 

 of the woods — 



*' I!^ulli penetrabilis astro 

 Lucus iners," 



as Mr. O'B. quoted — increased the sense of solitude. 

 We had become so worn-out and emaciated by the 

 hard work and insufficient food of the last ten days, 

 that it was clear enough we could not hold out much 



