294 A JOURNEY TO THE 
1772. others were fo reduced as to be no longer capable 
or of proceeding with us, having neither guns nor 
Ma 
ammunition; fo that their whole dependence 
for fupport was on the fifh they might be ableto 
catch ; and though fifh was pretty plentifulin 
moft of the rivers and lakes hereabout, yet they — 
were not always to be depended on for fuch an — 
immediate fupply of food as thofe poor people re- — 
quired. i” 
Though I had at this time a fuflicient ftock of 
ammunition to ferve me and all my proper com- 
panions to the Fort, yet felf-prefervation being 
the firft law of Nature, it was thought advifable 
to referve the greateft part of it for our own ufe; 
efpecially as geefe and other fmaller birds were — 
the only game now to be met with, and which, 
in times of {carcity, bears hard on the articles of © 
powder and fhot. Indeed moft of the Indians 
who actually accompanicd me the whole way — 
to the Factory had fome little ammunition re- 
maining, which enabled them to travel in times 
of real fcarcity better than thofe whom we left 
- behind; and though we affifted many of them, 
yet feveral of their women died for want. It is 
a melancholy truth, anda difgrace to the little - 
humanity of which thofe people are poflefled, to 
think, that in times - want the poor women 
alway 
a 
Kase 
the rocks, fo as to withftand any attempt that might be made on them re 
beafts of prey, and were well fhielded from the weather; fo that, in all 
probability, few of them were loft. 
