160 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



sistance of the Indians, bereft of every re- 

 source, we felt ourselves reduced to the 

 most miserable state, which was rendered 

 still worse, from the recollection that our 

 friends in the rear were as miserable as 

 ourselves. For the moment, however, 

 hunger prevailed, and each began to gnaw 

 the scraps of putrid and frozen meat that 

 were lying about without waiting to prepare 

 them. A fire, however, was made, and the 

 neck and bones of a deer, found in the 

 house, were boiled and devoured. 



I determined to remain a day here to re- 

 pose ; then to go in search of the Indians, 

 and in the event of missing them, to pro- 

 ceed to the first trading establishment, 

 which was distant about one hundred and 

 thirty miles, and from thence to send suc- 

 cour to my companions. This indeed I 

 should have done immediately, as the most 

 certain manner of executing my purpose, 

 had there been any probability of the river 

 and lakes being frozen to the southward, or 

 had we possessed sufficient strength to 

 have clambered over the rocks and moun- 



