344 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



at Obstruction Rapid, it had been proposed to 

 give him a reward upon our arrival at a post. 

 His principles, however, unsupported by a belief 

 in the divine truths of Christianity, were unable 

 to withstand the pressure of severe distress. 

 His countrymen, the Iroquois, are generally Chris- 

 tians, but lie was totally uninstructed and igno- 

 rant " of the duties inculcated by Christianity ; 

 and from his long residence in the Indian country, 

 seems to have imbibed, or retained the rules of 

 conduct which the southern Indians prescribe to 

 themselves. 



On the two following days we had mild but thick 

 snowy weather, and as the view was too limited 

 to enable us to preserve a straight course, we 

 remained encamped amongst a few willows and 

 dwarf pines, about five miles from the tent. We 

 found a species of cornkidaria, a kind of Hchen, 

 that v/as good to eat when moistened and toasted 

 over the fire ; and we had a good many pieces of 

 singed buffalo hide remaining. 



On the 26th, the weather being clear and ex- 

 tremely cold, we resumed our march, which was 

 very painful from the depth of the snow, parti- 

 cularly on the margins of the small lakes that lay 

 in our route. We frequently sunk under the load 

 of our blankets, and were obliged to assist each 

 other in getting up. After walking about three 



