In the Arctic Regions. 253 
the winter had set in with all its rigor, and that by 
longer delay we should only be exposed to an accumu- 
lation of difficulties ; we therefore prepared_for our 
journey, although we were in a very unfit condition 
for starting, being weak from fasting, and our gar- 
ments stiffened by the frost. We had no means 
of making a fire to thaw them, the moss, at all times 
difficult to kindle, being now covered with ice and 
snow. A considerable time was consumed in packing 
up the frozen tents and bed clothes, the wind blowing 
so strong that no one could keep his hands long out of 
his mittens. 
Just as we were about to commence our march, I 
was seized with a fainting fit, in consequence of ex- 
haustion and sudden exposure to the wind; but 
after eating a morsel of portable soup, I recovered, so 
far as to be able to move on. I was unwilling at first 
to take this morsel of soup, which was diminishing 
the small and only remaining meal of the party ; but 
several of the men urged me to it, with much kindness, 
The ground was covered a foot deep with snow, the 
margin of the lakes was incrusted with ice, and the 
swamps over which we had to pass were entirely 
frozen ; but the ice not being sufficiently strong to 
bear us, we frequently plunged knee-deep in water. 
Those who carried the canoes were repeatedly blown 
down by the violence of the wind, and they often fell, 
