386 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



rence in our little party, and for a short time was 

 obliged to give vent to my grief. Left with one 

 person and both of us weak, no appearance of 

 Belanger, a likelihood that great calamity had 

 taken place amongst our other companions, and 

 upwards of seventeen days' march from the 

 nearest Establishment, and myself unable to 

 carry a burden, all these things pressed heavy 

 on me ; and how to get to the Indians or to the 

 fort I did not know ; but that I might not depress 

 St. Germain's spirits, I suppressed the feeUngs 

 to which these thoughts gave rise, and made 

 some arrangements for the journey to Fort Pro- 

 vidence. 



October 18. — While we were this day occupied 

 in scraping together the remains of some deer's 

 meat, we observed Belanger coming round a point 

 apparently scarcely moving. I went to meet him, 

 and made immediate inquiries about my friends. 

 Five, with the Captain, he said, were at the house, 

 the rest were left near the river, unable to pro- 

 ceed ; but he was too weak to relate the whole. He 

 was conducted to t'he encampment, and paid every 

 attention to, and by degrees we heard the re- 

 mainder of his tragic tale, at which the inter- 

 preter could not avoid crying. He then gave me 

 a letter from my friend the Commander, which 

 indeed was truly afflicting. The simple story of 



