444 FATE OF WILLIAMSON. 



fisheries* ; and having deposited the goods 

 safe in store at the Fort, and left a trustworthy 

 man in care of them, he proceeded without loss 

 of time to fulfil my last instructions by coming 

 to the Thlew-ee-choh. It was gratifying to hear 

 that the men under his charge had conducted 

 themselves with propriety ; but the faint hope I 

 had entertained of poor Williamson's being alive 

 was extinguished by the intelligence that his 

 body had been found and interred by Mr. 

 M c Leod. The unhappy man was discovered 

 lying on the ground, with a few sticks near him, 

 not far from his fire. He had died, as it seemed, 

 from famine, aided, perhaps, by the despond- 

 encv so observable in his conduct for some 

 months previous to his discharge. The cause of 

 this dejection we were unable to discover ; but 

 so melancholy was he, that in the autumn 

 before the house was built, and when we were 

 all encamped around it, instead of associating 

 with his comrades, he built himself a hut with 

 pine branches, in which he ate his solitary meal ; 

 and frequently in the stillness of the night, when 

 most others were at rest, this extraordinary man 

 would be found sitting before his dwelling, with 

 his eyes intently fixed on the dying embers of 



* One fishery was opposite Reindeer Island, and the other 

 near Point Keith, 115 miles from Fort Reliance. 



