DOWN THE PEACE RIVER 115 



now so scant and in such bad condition that it was almost im- 

 possible for us to either eat or sleep and our work on the river 

 never ceased." 



"August 19th. Constantly paddling on we watched for the 

 boats around every turn, but they did not appear. About ten 

 o'clock, the wind sprang up dead ahead, and we were under the 

 necessity of putting ashore and waiting until it went down. Here 

 we slept by turns, one watching for the boats while the other 

 slept. About five p.m., the wind fell, and we immediately started 

 and worked hard until long after dark." 



The next day we passed "Rapid Bouille." We decided to 

 camp and watch for the boats which should have arrived before 

 this. Acting on this decision — caused by the head winds we 

 could not face — we carried our things up the steep bank, made a 

 fire, and had a little uncooked mouldy pemmican and tea. The 

 high wind set fire to the grass and, before we caught all the things 

 together, my clothes were more than half burned and our tent was 

 altogether destroyed. Immediately after this, the wind fell and 

 we resolved to proceed. We still had more than 70 miles to make 

 before we could obtain food, and our supplies were all exhausted, 

 except the mouldy pemmican. We worked hard all the evening 

 and camped on the lower end of an island, and built a large fire, 

 so that if the boats came along in the night the men would see 

 the light and at least fire a gun. 



"August 21st. Poor food and hard work now began to tell 

 on me. My stomach loathed raw pemmican, and all other food 

 was gone — our gun was useless — and it became painfully evident 

 that from some unaccountable cause the boats had not yet left 

 Fort Chipewyan. Sixty miles lay between us and safety, and we 

 must either hurry on or starve. We had still a few pounds of 

 pemmican, but, with all my efforts, it would not stay on my 

 stomach, so I reluctantly ceased to eat. We toiled on until after 

 midday, when I became so ill that we had to put ashore. I lay 

 down on the sand utterly exhausted and very sick. A review of 

 the situation brought me to myself, and I rose up, determined to 

 struggle on as long as I could hold the paddle. Without a word, 

 we worked on and on, and reached Quatre Fourches River two 



