RESUME OUR MARCH. £59 



we were out of our rooms ; and this, or, it may 

 be, the excitement of getting away, banished 

 sleep from my eyes. Nevertheless, I endea- 

 voured to cheat myself, by fancying drowsiness; 

 and had just arrived at the falling-off point, — a 

 kind of misty half-consciousness, — when a white 

 partridge came burring within five paces of us, 

 and rang such an alarum that no fewer than 

 three heads were simultaneously popped up, 

 to discover the cause of this unwelcome dis- 

 turbance. 



Our march was resumed at S o'clock of the 

 following morning, by descending one side and 

 scrambling up the other of a very deep ravine, 

 thickly interlaced with underwood, through 

 which we had much trouble to get our dogs ; 

 but a greater misfortune was the weakness 

 of my servant Malley, which by 6 o'clock had 

 increased so much as to oblige him to stop 

 altogether. Believing that his indisposition was 

 attributable to confinement and sedentary oc- 

 cupations at the Fort during the winter, and 

 that a few days would restore him, I requested 

 Mr. King and one of the men to stay with 

 him, using their discretion in coming forward ; 

 while I, with the Indian and the remaining 

 man, pushed on as quickly as possible to Ar- 

 tillery Lake. 



Our way lay through swamps, covered with 



s 2 



