OF THE POLAR SEA. 55 



on the beneficence of the Supreme Being, 

 tempered with resignation to his will, was 

 indefatigable in his exertions to serve us, 

 and daily collected all the tripe de roche 

 that was used in the officers' mess. Mr. 

 Hood could not partake of this miserable 

 fare, and a partridge which had been re- 

 served for him was, I lament to say, this 

 day stolen by one of the men. 



October 4. — The canoe being finished, it 

 was brought to the encampment, and the 

 whole party being assembled in anxious 

 expectation on the beach, St. Germain 

 embarked, and amidst our prayers for his 

 success, succeeded in reaching the opposite 

 shore. The canoe was then drawn back 

 again, and another person transported, and 

 in this manner by drawing it backwards 

 and forwards, we were all conveyed over 

 without any serious accident. By these 

 frequent traverses the canoe was materially 

 injured ; and latterly it filled each time with 

 water before reaching the shore, so that all 

 our garments and bedding were wet, and 

 there was not a sufficiency of willows upon 



