310 : Thirty Years 
little snow on the ground, and we were surrounded by 
vast herds of reindeer. Now there were but few 
recent tracks of these animals, and the snow was up- 
wards of two feet deep. Winter River was then open, 
now it was frozen two feet thick. 
When I arose the following morning, my body and 
limbs were so swollen that I was unable to walk more 
than a few yards.. Adam was in a still worse condi- 
tion, being absolutely incapable ot rising without as- 
sistance. My other companions fortunately experienced 
this inconvenience in a less degree, and went to col- 
lect bones, and some tripe de roche, which supplied 
us with two meals. The bones were quite acrid, and 
the soup extracted from them excoriated the mouth 
if taken alone, but it was somewhat milder when 
boiled with tripe de roche, and we even thought the 
mixture palatable, with the addition of salt, of which 
a cask had been fortunately left here in the spring. 
Augustus to-day set two fishing-lines below the rapid. 
On his way thither he saw two deer, but had not 
strength to follow them. 
On the 13th the wind blew violently from south- 
east, and the snow drifted so much, that the party 
was confined to the house. In the afternoon of the 
following day Belanger arrived with a note from Mr. » 
Back, stating that he had seen no trace of the Indians, 
and desiring further instructions as to the course he 
