CHRISTMAS-DAY. 219 



scarce worth preserving, some declared they 

 could not, and others that they would not go. 

 This obstinacy compelled me to reduce their 

 allowance, a measure of necessary rigour, which 

 ultimately drove the stronger away, and left us 

 more means to nourish and support the weaker. 

 Mr. King was unremitting in his care of those 

 who required medical aid ; and often did I share 

 my own plate with the children, whose helpless 

 state and piteous cries were peculiarly distress- 

 ing. Compassion for the full-grown may or may 

 not be felt; but that heart must be cased in 

 steel which is insensible to the cry of a child 

 for food. I have no reserve in declaring the 

 pleasure which it gave me to watch the emotions 

 of those unfortunate little ones, as each received 

 its spoonful of pemmican from my hand. 



Christmas-day was the appointed time for open- 

 ing a soldered tin case, the gift of a lady at New 

 York ; but our companion Mr. M c Leod being 

 absent, we thought it fair to postpone the grati- 

 fication of our curiosity till he could participate 

 in it; and Mr. King and I made a cheerful 

 dinner of pemmican. Happiness on such occa- 

 sions depends entirely on the mood and temper 

 of the individuals ; and we cheated ourselves 

 into as much mirth at the fancied sayings and 

 doings of our friends at home, as if we had par- 

 taken of the roast beef and plum pudding which 



