LIFE OE DEATH? 



of the question. If we would reacli Churchill at all it must 

 be by land. 



As most of us were unable to walk, the only course open 

 appeared to be to send on some of the stronger men to, if 

 possible, reach the Fort and bring back a relief party. This 

 plan was proposed, and two of the western men, Jim and 

 John, volunteered to undertake the walk. We thought the 

 distance could not be more than fifty miles, and it might be 

 considerably less. On the morning of the 16th the two men 

 set out on their journey, while those of us remaining pro- 

 ceeded to move our tents back from the shore about two miles, 

 to the nearest woods, where we might make ourselves more 

 comfortable, to await the success or failure of the relief party. 

 A sheltered spot was selected for camp, in a thick grove 

 of spruce trees, and after clearing away about two feet of 

 snow which covered the ground, tents were pitched, then well 

 carpeted with spruce boughs, and a big camp-fire made. This 

 was indeed a happy change from lying in canoes in the ice- 

 pack. Clothing and blankets were now dried, and with the 

 seal meat, and some ptarmigan which we shot in the grove, 

 we were soon comparatively comfortable — with the exception, 

 perhaps, of poor Michel, who suffered much from his frozen 

 feet. 



The reviving effect of the camp-fire upon our numb and 

 half-frozen bodies was soon felt, though with the exception 

 of Francois, the western half-breed, all of us at the camp 

 were still very weak. Our veteran Pierre, who had done 

 such good service with the paddle, now staggered in his 

 walk, and as we were moving the tents from the shore back 

 to the woods, he fell from sheer exhaustion and had difficulty 

 in regaining his feet. Now in camp, however, and with meat 

 enough to last us for a day or two, we were in a position to 

 take a rest from our labors. Poor Michel's feet were in a 

 had state, and having no proper means of treating them, we 

 were anxious about them. His brother Louis was also in a 



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