204 ACROSS THE SUB-ARCTICS OF CANALS 
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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 proceeded 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 clearmg 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 ts 
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 bad state, 
and having no proper means of treating them, they 
