WE FIND A TRAIL. 309 



having led him into such desperate straits. He 

 camped apart from us, with his wife and boy, holding 

 frequent and significant consultations with them ; and 

 it required all the forbearance we could command, to 

 prevent an open rupture with the man and his family. 



On the morning of the 18th, before we started, our 

 ears were greeted by the cry of that bird of ill omen, a 

 crow — to us proclaiming glad tidings, for it was a sure 

 indication of more open country being at hand. Our 

 spirits were raised still more by observing during the 

 day's journey signs of man's presence as recent as 

 the preceding spring — a few branches cut with a 

 knife, as if by some one making his way through the 

 bushes. 



A heavy thunder-storm which came on obliged us 

 to camp very early; but the next day we struck a 

 faint trail, which slightly improved as we advanced, 

 and towards evening we found the tracks of horses. 

 The path disappeared, and re-appeared again, during 

 the next two days, and was still very dubious and 

 faint, so that we were afraid it might be a deceptive 

 one, after all ; but on the night of the 21st we came 

 to a marsh where horse tracks were very numerous, 

 and found on the further side, where we camped, a 

 large cedar felled, from which a canoe had been made. 

 On a tree was an inscription which was not legible, 

 although the words seemed to be English. To our 

 intense delight, the next morning w^e hit upon a trail 

 where the trees had been "blazed," or marked with 

 an axe a long time ago, and old marten-traps at 

 intervals informed us that we had at last touched 



