NINE MONTHS IN THE ARCTIC. 159 



This we did many times, but we found it abso- 

 lutely impossible for him to keep up with us. 

 We had no strength to carry him ; this was out 

 of the question ; and to attempt to help him 

 along for any considerable time, or to wait for 

 him or stay by him, it was certain we should 

 never get any where, and all die together. 



The only alternative, therefore, to which, from 

 necessity, we were brought, was to leave him 

 behind. Sad as was our decision in this in- 

 stance, yet it was distressingly true that, if we 

 had tarried by the way or sat down, we never 

 should have risen again. 



We pressed on for our lives. We soon lost 

 sight of our companion in the distance, either 

 resting or making ineffectual efforts to get along. 

 In leaving him in those wintry wilds, we left 

 him, as we supposed, to die. We saw no chance 

 for his escape. 



About eight days from this time, we learned 

 that, a few hours after we left him, he was found 

 by some natives in a perfectly helpless state, and 

 carried by them to a settlement several miles dis- 

 tant, where he was taken care of, and finally 

 joined the company at East Cape. 



In regard to those of us who were still able 

 to proceed through the drifted snow, how slight 

 the hope that we should long continue our peril- 



V 



