302 Thirty Years 
de roche was their only chance of preserving life ; un- 
der these circumstances, I could not do otherwise than 
yield to their desire. ~I wrote a note to Dr. Richard: 
son and Mr. Hood, informing them of the pines we 
had passed, and recommending their removing thither. 
Having found that Michel was carrying a considerable 
quantity of ammunition, I dgsired him to divide it 
among my party, leaving him only ten balls and a lit- 
tle shot, to kill any animals he might meet on his 
way to the tent. This man was very particular in his 
inquiries respecting the direction of the house, and 
the course we meant to pursue ; he also said, that if 
he should be able, he would go and search for Vail- 
lant and Crédit ; and he requested my permission to 
take Vaillant’s blanket, if he should find it, to which 
I agreed, and mentioned it in my notes to the officers, 
Scarcely were these arrangements finished, before 
Perrault and Fontano were seized with a fit of dizzi- 
ness, and betrayed other symptoms of extreme debility. 
Some tea was quickly prepared for them, and after 
drinking it, and eating a few morsels of burnt leather, 
they recovered, and expressed their desire to go for- 
ward ; but the other men, alarmed at what they had 
just witnessed, became doubtful of their own strength, 
and, giving way to absolute dejection, declared their 
own inability to move. I now earnestly pressed: upon 
them the necessity of continuing our journey, as the 
