280 DEVIATE FROM THE RIGHT COURSE. 



them all snug under their blankets, quite un- 

 conscious of the march of time. We were soon 

 off; but met with great inconvenience, as well 

 as hazard, in consequence of the snow having 

 fallen in such quantities as to render the good 

 and bad ice undistinguishable, and reduce it to 

 a lottery whether we fell through or not. Luck- 

 ily, nothing more important befel us than an 

 occasional dip up to the knees ; and, as a set-off, 

 marks, stretching far out on the ice, led us to 

 two fine buck deer, which had been shot by 

 Mr. M c Leod himself. 



I was not at all certain of the route at this 

 point, remembering that last year we had gone 

 astray hereabout ; and after a tedious march of 

 doubt and perplexity, I ascended a hill, and 

 discovered that we were too far to the eastward. 

 The course was therefore changed six points, 

 though upon no better ground than personal 

 recollection, which, for the reason before stated, 

 viz. the altered appearance of the country, was 

 but vague and indistinct. The spot where we 

 were seemed to be about equally distant from 

 the numerous indentations of the land, in any 

 one of which the course might lie, and the great 

 similarity in the outline of which made it dif- 

 ficult to select one in preference to another; 

 indeed, our oldest voyageurs confessed them- 

 selves unable to determine which was most 



