54 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



mating the distances, and making a con- 

 nected eye-sketch of the whole. This part 

 of the survey was allotted to Messrs. Back 

 and Hood conjointly : Mr. Hood also pro- 

 tracted the route every evening on a ruled 

 map, after the courses and distances had 

 been corrected by observations for latitude 

 and longitude, taken by myself as often as 

 the weather would allow. The extraordi- 

 nary talent of this young officer in this line 

 of service proved of the greatest advantage 

 to the expedition, and he continued to per- 

 form that duty until his lamented death, 

 with a degree of zeal and accuracy that 

 characterized all his pursuits. 



The next morning our camp was in mo- 

 tion at five A.M., and we soon afterwards 

 embarked with the flattering accompani- 

 ment of a fair wind ; it proved* however, 

 too light to enable us to stem the stream, 

 and we were obliged to resume the fatiguing 

 operation of tracking ; sometimes under 

 cliffs so steep that the men could scarcely 

 find a footing, and not unfrequently over 

 spots rendered so miry by the small streams 



