APPENDIX TO CHAPTER XI. 513 



tongue, a 32-calibre revolver, a small axe, fish-line, and 

 a few matches were all they had to rely upon for a safe 

 voyage back, nor did the resources of the country war- 

 rant them in expecting much from that quarter. For 

 eight days the two men built rafts, tramped and floated 

 down the river, travelling a distance of 1 50 miles with no 

 other food than the above-mentioned provisions, an oc- 

 casional squirrel, and berries. Black-flies harried them 

 terribly, and made their condition almost unbearable. 

 At last the cache between the Mininipi and Mouni 

 Rapids was reached. From this they obtained five 

 pounds of buckwheat and a can of tongue to last them 

 for the next seventy-five miles to the cache below the 

 first falls. By continual rafting and tramping they 

 reached the cabin of an old trapper, near the mouth of 

 the river, August 29th, ragged and shoeless and much 

 worn with hardships and privations. Thence they were 

 conveyed to Northwest River, where they received kind 

 treatment at the hands of Mr. McLaren, and from 

 there went across Lake Melville to Rigolet in a yawl, 

 arriving on the afternoon of September ist. The main 

 expedition had been waiting for them in that vicinity for 

 six days, and was beginning to get anxious, for they were 

 due August 25th, and according to the report brought 

 back by Young and Smith were likely to be on time. 

 When at last they did arrive they were welcomed on 

 board with every demonstration of joy. 



