52 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



grew there, to pay over the seams of the 

 canoe. 



In the afternoon we had a heavy fall of 

 snow, which continued all night. A small 

 quantity of tripe de roche was gathered ; and 

 Credit, who had been hunting, brought in 

 the antlers and back bone of a deer which 

 had been killed in the summer. The wolves 

 and birds of prey had picked them clean, 

 but there still remained a quantity of the 

 spinal marrow which they had not been able 

 to extract. This, although putrid, was es- 

 teemed a valuable prize, and the spine 

 being divided into portions was distributed 

 equally. After eating the marrow, which 

 was so acrid as to excoriate the lips, we 

 rendered the bones friable by burning, and 

 ate them also. 



On the following morning the ground 

 was covered with snow to the depth of a 

 foot and a half, and the weather was very 

 stormy. These circumstances rendered the 

 men again extremely despondent; a settled 

 gloom hung over their countenances, and 



