18 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



made us a tolerable supper ; it was not of 

 the most choice kind, yet good enough for 

 hungry men. While we were eating it I 

 perceived one of the women busily em- 

 ployed scraping an old skin, the contents 

 of which her husband presented us with. 

 They consisted of pounded meat, fat, and a 

 greater proportion of Indians' and deer's 

 hair than either ; and though such a mix- 

 ture may not appear very alluring to an 

 English stomach, it was thought a great 

 luxury after three days' privation in these 

 cheerless regions of America. Indeed, had 

 it not been for the precaution and generosity 

 of the Indians, we must have gone without 

 sustenance until we reached the Fort. 



" On the 1st of November our men be- 

 gan to make a raft to enable us to cross a 

 river which was not even frozen at the 

 edges. It was soon finished, and three of 

 us embarked, being seated up to the ankles 

 in water. We each took a pine branch for 

 a paddle, and made an effort to gain the 

 opposite shore, in which, after some time, 

 (and not without strong apprehensions of 



