ARRIVAL AT CHURCHILL. 167 



I was obliged to call the servant to take down 

 the tent, and wrap it round me, before I could 

 get any sleep. The sudden variation of the 

 weather, however, gave me no cold, nor did it 

 interrupt a good appetite, which the traveller 

 in these regions usually enjoys. 



Had we not been delayed by the absence of 

 the Indians a hunting we might have reached 

 the Factory to-day, the 20th. They came in 

 from their excursion at the time we were tak- 

 ing our breakfast, but without much success. 

 They had killed an Arctic fox that supplied them 

 with a meal, and a few ducks which they 

 brought to our encampment, among which was 

 the Eider duck, so remarkable for the beautiful 

 softness of its down. In the evening one of 

 the Chipewyan Indians, sent me some dried 

 venison ; and the next morning early we arrived 

 at Churchill. The Esquimaux, Augustus, who 

 accompanied Captain Franklin to the shores of 

 the Polar Sea, came out to meet us, and ex- 

 pressed much delight at my coming to see his 

 tribe, who were expected to arrive at the Fac- 

 tory every day. He had not seen his country- 

 men since he acted as one of the guides in that 

 arduous expedition, and intended to return 

 with them to his wife and children, laden with 



