250 Thirty Years 



snow took place ; the canoes became a cause of delay, 

 by the difficulty of carrying them in a high wind, and 

 they sustained much damage from the falls of those 

 who had charge of them. The face of the country 

 was broken by hills of moderate elevation, but the 

 ground was plentifully strewed with small stones, 

 which, to men bearing heavy burdens, and whose feet 

 were protected only by soft moose skin shoes, occasion- 

 ed great pain. At the end of eleven miles we encamp- 

 ed, and sent for a musk-ox and a deer, which St. Ger- 

 main and Augustus had killed. The day was extreme- 

 ly cold, the thermometer varying between 34° and 36°. 

 In the afternoon a heavy fall of snow took place, on 

 the wind changing from north-west to south-west. 

 We found no wood at the encampment, but made a 

 fire of moss to cook the supper, and crept under our 

 blankets for warmth. At sun rise the thermometer 

 was at 31°, and the wind fresh from north-west ; but 

 the weather became mild in the course of the forenoon, 

 and the snow disappeared from the gravel. The after- 

 noon was remarkably fine, and the thermometer rose 

 to 50°. One of tin- hunters killed a musk-ox. The 

 hills in this part are lower and more round-backed 

 than those we pa terday, and exhibited bill lit- 



tle naked rock ; they were covered with lichens, 



I Ia\ ing ascertained from the sum mil- of the highest 

 hill near the tents, thai the rivci continued to preserve 



