OF THE POLAR SEA. 155 



and affording relief to our friends could 

 have enabled us to support. As we ad- 

 vanced, we found to our mortification, that 

 the tripe de roche, hitherto our sole depend- 

 ence, began to be scarce, so that we could 

 only collect sufficient to make half a kettle- 

 ful, which, with the addition of a partridge 

 each, that St. Germain had killed, yielded a 

 tolerable meal ; during this day I felt very 

 weak and sore in the joints, particularly 

 between the shoulders. At eight we en- 

 camped among a small clump of willows. 



On the 6th we set out at an early hour, 

 pursuing our route over a range of hills, at 

 the foot of one of which we saw several 

 large pines, and a great quantity of willows ; 

 a sight that encouraged us to quicken our 

 pace, as we were now certain we could not 

 be far from the woods. Indeed we were 

 making considerable progress, when Be- 

 langer unfortunately broke through the ice, 

 and sank up to the hips. The weather 

 being cold, he was in danger of freezing, 

 but some brushwood on the borders of the 

 lake enabled us to make a fire to dry him. 



