308 Thirty Years 
infinite disappointment and grief found it a perfectly 
desolate habitation. There was no deposit of pro- 
vision, no trace of the Indians, no letter from Mr. 
Wentzel-to point out where the Indians might be 
found. It would be impossible for me to describe our 
sensations after entering this miserable abode, and 
discovering how we had been neglected ; the whole 
party shed tears, not so much for our own fate, as for 
that of our friends in the rear, whose lives depended 
entirely on our sending immediate relief from this 
place. 
I found a note, however, from Mr. Back, stating. 
that he had reached the house two days ago, and was 
going in search of the Indians, at a part where St. 
Germain deemed it probable they might be found. If 
he was unsuccessful, he purposed walking to Fort 
Providence, and sending succor from thence. But he 
doubted whether he or his party could perform the 
journey to that place in their present debilitated state. 
It was evident that any supply that could be sent 
from Fort Providence would be long in reaching us, 
and could not be sufficient to enable us to afford any 
assistance to our companions behind, and that the only 
relief for them must be procured from the Indians, I 
resolved, therefore, on going also in search of them ; 
but my companions were absolutely incapable of pro- 
ceeding, and I thought, by halting two or three days, 
