OF THE POLAR SEA. 153 
from Cumberland House, and brought some pem- 
mican which we had left behind ; a supply which 
was very seasonable after our recent loss. The 
general occupation of Mr. Isbester during the 
winter, is to follow or find out the Indians, and 
collect their furs, and: his present journey will ap- 
pear adventurous to persons accustomed to the 
certainty of travelling on a well-known road. He 
was going in search of a band of Indians, of whom 
no information had been received since last Oc- 
tober, and his only guide for finding them was 
their promise to hunt i ina stontinin quarter ; but he 
looked atthe jaunt with 
on meeting them in six or seven days, for which 
time only he had provision, Few persons in this 
country suffer more from want of food than those 
occasionally do who are employed on this service. 
They are furnished with a sufficiency of provision 
to serve until they reach the part where the In- — 
dians are expected to be; but it frequently oc- 
curs that, on their arrival at the spot, they have 
gone elsewhere, and that a recent fall of snow has 
_ hidden their track, in which case the voyagers have 
to wander about in search of them ; and it often 
happens, when they succeed in finding the In- 
dians, that they are unprovided with meat. Mr. 
Isbester had been placed in this distressing situa- 
tion only a few weeks ago, and passed four days 
