OF THE POLAR SEA. 



83 



explained why he was so unwilling to 

 acquaint us with the situation of Mr. Back's 

 party. He dreaded that I should resolve 

 upon joining it, when our numbers would 

 be so great as to consume at once every 

 thing St. Germain might kill, if by accident 

 he should be successful in hunting. He 

 even endeavoured to entice away our other 

 hunter, Adam, and proposed to him to carry 

 off the only kettle we had, and without 

 which we could not have subsisted two 

 days. Adam's inability to move, however, 

 precluded him from agreeing to the pro- 

 posal, but he could assign no reason for not 

 acquainting me with it previous to Belan- 

 ger's departure. I was at first inclined to 

 consider the whole matter as a fiction of 

 Adam's, but he persisted in his story without 

 wavering ; and Belanger, when we met again, 

 confessed that every part of it was true. It 

 is painful to have to record a fact so deroga- 

 tory to human nature, but I have deemed 

 it proper to mention it, to show the difficul- 

 ties we had to contend with, and the effect 

 which distress had in warping the feelings 

 g 2 



