252 Thirty Years 



pemmican, and a little arrow-root for supper, which 

 afforded hut a scanty meal. This evening was warm, 

 hut dark clouds overspread the sky. Our men now 

 began to fijid their burdens very oppressive, and were 

 much fatigued by this day's march, but did not com- 

 plain. One of them was lame from an inflammation in 

 the knee. Heavy rain commenced at midnight, and 

 continued without intermission until five in the morn- 

 ing, when it was succeeded by snow on the wind 

 changing to north-west, which soon increased to a vio- 

 lent gale. As we had nothing to eat, and were desti- 

 tute of the means of making a fire, we remained in 

 our beds all the day ; but the covering of our blankets 

 was insufficient to prevent us from feeling the severity 

 of the frost, and suffering inconvenience from the d lilt- 

 ing of the snow into our tents. There was no abate- 

 ment of the storm the next day ; our tents were com- 

 pletely frozen, and the snow had drifted around them 

 to a depth of three feet, and even on the inside there 

 was a covering of several inches on our blankets. Our 

 suffering from cold, in a comfortless canvass tent in 

 Buch weather, with the temperature at 20°, and with- 

 out lire, will easily be imagined ; it was, however, less 



than that which we felt from hunger, 



The morning of the 7th cleared up a littlo, bul the 

 wind was still Btrong, and the weather extremely cold. 

 From the unusual continuance of the storm, we feared 



