380 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



having first collected a few old skins of deer, to 

 serve us as food, and written a note to be left 

 for our commander, to apprize him of our in- 

 tentions. We pursued the course of the river to 

 the lower lake, when St. Germain fell in, which 

 obhged us to encamp directly to prevent his being 

 frozen ; indeed we were all glad of stopping, for 

 in our meagre and reduced state it was impos- 

 sible to resist the weather, which at any other 

 time would have been thought fine ; my toes were 

 frozen, and although wrapped up in blanket I 

 could not keep my hands warm. 



The 12th was excessively cold with fresh 

 breezes. Our meal at night consisted of scraps of 

 old deer skins and swamp tea, and the men com- 

 plained greatly of their increasing debility. The 

 following morning I sent St. Germain to hunt, in- 

 tending to go some distance down the lake, but 

 the weather becoming exceedingly, thick with 

 snow storms, we were prevented from moving. 

 He returned without success, not having seen any 

 animals. We had nothing to eat. 



In the morning of the 1 4th the part of the lake 

 before us was quite frozen. There was so much 

 uncertainty in St. Germain's answers as to the 

 chance of any Indians being in the direction we 

 were then going, (although he had previously 

 said that the leader had told him he should be 



