NORTHERN OCEAN. 31 
walked every day near twenty miles, without 1770. 
any other fubfiftence than a pipe of tobacco, and -~~ 
a drink of water when we pleafed: even par- oi 
tridges and gulls, which fome time before were 
in great plenty, and eafily procured, were now fo 
{carce and fhy, that we could rarely get one; and 
as to geefe, ducks, &c. they had all flown to the 
Northward to breed and molt. 
Early in the morning of the twenty-third, we 
fet out as ufual, but had not walked above feven 
or eight miles before we faw three mufk-oxen 
grazing by the fide of a {mall lake. The Indi- 
ans immediately went in purfuit of them; and 
as fome of them were expert hunters, they foon 
killed the whole of them. This was no doubt 
very fortunate ; but, to our great mortification, 
before we could get one of them fkinned, fuch a 
fall of rain came on, as to put it quite out of our 
power to make a fire; which, even in the fineft 
weather, could only be made of mofs, as we were 
near an hundred miles from any woods. This 
was poor comfort for people who had not broke 
their faft for four or five days. Neceflity, how- 
ever, has no law; and having been before initi- 
-ated into the method of eating raw meat, we 
were the better prepared for this repaft: but this 
was by no means fo well relifhed, either by me 
or the Southern Indians, as either raw venifon or 
raw fith had been: for the flefh of the mufk-ox 
is not only coarfe and tough, but fmells and 
taftes fo ftrong of mufk as to make it very difa- 
agreeable 
