SUNDAY. 185 



The following clay being Sunday, divine service 

 was read, and our imperfect thanks were humbly 

 offered to Almighty God for the mercies which 

 had been already vouchsafed to us ; and, though 

 in this imperious climate, with every thing to do, 

 time was certainly precious, yet, feeling that the 

 first opening of the sacred volume in this distant 

 wilderness ought not to be profaned by any 

 mixture of common labour, I made it a day of 

 real quiet and repose. 



After the men had recovered from their bites, 

 rather than their fatigue, they were sent for the 

 meat which we had concealed on our track ; and, 

 returning by a different route, they had the good 

 fortune to find a clump of trees sufficiently free 

 from knots to admit of their being converted into 

 the proper length of planking for boats. This 

 discovery was most important, as if was afterwards 

 found to be the only clump at all suited to the 

 purpose; and, had it not been thus luckily 

 stumbled on, the trouble, expense, and fatigue 

 of sending at least a hundred miles over the ice 

 for wood, might have cramped, if not altogether 

 paralysed, our efforts in the ensuing summer. 



On the 16th of September, I had the gratifi- 

 cation to welcome to the fort my companion Mr. 

 King. He arrived with the two laden bateaux ; 

 and, notwithstanding his inexperience in the 

 country, he brought his heavy cargo in a very 



