OF THE POLAR SEA. 255 



him tumble, we did not press the matter further. 

 I may here remark that our people had mur- 

 mured a good deal at having to carry two canoes, 

 though they were informed of the necessity of 

 taking both, in case it should be deemed advis- 

 able to divide the party; which it had been 

 thought probable we should be obliged to do, if 

 animals proved scarce, in order to give the whole 

 the better chance of procuring subsistence, and 

 also for the purpose of sending forward some of 

 the best walkers to search for Indians, and to get 

 them to meet us with supplies of provision. The 

 power of doing this was now at an end. As the 

 accident could not be remedied, we turned it to 

 the best account, by making a fire of the bark 

 and timbers of the broken vessel, and cooked the 

 remainder of our portable soup and arrow-root. 

 This was a scanty meal after three days' fasting, 

 but it served to allay the pangs of hunger, and 

 enabled us to proceed at a quicker pace than be- 

 fore. The depth of the snow caused us to march 

 in Indian file, that is in each other's steps ; the 

 voyagers taking it in turn to lead the party. A 

 distant object was pointed out to this man in the 

 direction we wished to take, and Mr. Hood fol- 

 lowed immediately behind him, to renew the 

 bearings, and keep him from deviating more than 

 could be helped from the mark. It may be here 



