176 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



desire of the Indian guide, and diverged 

 more to the eastward, that we might get 

 into the line upon which our hunters had 

 gone. This was the only consideration that 

 could have induced us to remove to a chain 

 of small lakes, connected by long portages. 

 We crossed three of these, and then were 

 obliged to encamp to rest the men. The 

 country is bare of wood except a few dwarf 

 birch bushes, which grow near the borders 

 of the lakes, and here and there a few 

 stunted pines ; and our fuel principally con- 

 sisted of the roots of decayed pines, which 

 we had some difficulty to collect in suffi- 

 cient quantity for cooking. When this ma- 

 terial is wanting, the rein-deer lichen and 

 other mosses that grow in profusion on the 

 gravelly mcclivities of the hills are used as 

 substitutes. Three more of the hunters 

 arrived with meat this evening, which sup- 

 ply came very opportunely, as our nets 

 were unproductive. At eight P.M., a faint 

 Aurora Borealis appeared to the southward, 

 the night was cold, the wind strong from 

 N.W. 



