OF THE POLAR SEA. 117 



conduct had been good and respectful to 

 the officers ; and in a conversation between 

 Captain Franklin, Mr. Hood, and myself, at 

 Obstruction Rapid, it had been proposed 

 to give him a reward upon our arrival at a 

 post. His principles, however, unsupported 

 by a belief in the divine truths of Christi- 

 anity, were unable to withstand the pressure 

 of severe distress. His countrymen, the 

 Iroquois, are generally Christians, but he 

 was totally uninstructed and ignorant of 

 the duties inculcated by Christianity; and, 

 from his long residence in the Indian coun- 

 try, seems to have imbibed, or retained, the 

 rules of conduct which the southern Indians 

 prescribe to themselves. 



On the two following days we had mild 

 but thick snowy weather, and as the view 

 was too limited to enable us to preserve a 

 straight course, we remained encamped 

 amongst a few willows and dwarf pines, 

 about five miles from the tent. We found 

 a species of cornicularia, a kind of lichen, 

 that was good to eat when moistened and 

 toasted over the fire ; and we had a good 



