4 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



attributed to him, and insisted that it was 

 broken by his falling accidentally ; and as 

 he brought men to attest the latter fact, 

 who saw him tumble, we did not press the 

 matter further. I may here remark that 

 our people had murmured a good deal at 

 having to carry two canoes, though they 

 were informed of the necessity of taking 

 both, in case it should be deemed advisable 

 to divide the party ; which it had been 

 thought probable we should be obliged to 

 do if animals proved scarce, in order to give 

 the whole the better chance of procuring 

 subsistence, and also for the purpose of 

 sending forward some of the best walkers 

 to search for Indians, and to get them to 

 meet us with supplies of provision. The 

 power of doing this was now at an end. 

 As the accident could not be remedied, we 

 turned it to the best account, by making a 

 fire of the bark and timber of the broken 

 vessel, and cooked the remainder of our 

 portable soup and arrow-root. This was a 

 scanty meal after three days' fasting, but 

 it served to allay the pangs of hunger, and 



