OF THE POLAR SEA. 



189 



die alone after having brought you hither ; 

 but from the moment they embark in the 

 canoes, I and my relatives shall lament them 

 as dead." 



We could only reply to this forcible ap- 

 peal, by assuring him and the Indians who 

 were seated around him, that we felt the 

 most anxious solicitude for the safety of 

 every individual, and that it was far from 

 our intention to proceed without considering 

 every argument for and against the proposed 

 journey. 



We next informed him, that it would be 

 very desirable to see the river at any rate, 

 that we might give some positive informa- 

 tion about its situation and size, in our next 

 letters to the Great Chief ; and that we 

 were very anxious to get on its banks, for 

 the purpose of observing an eclipse of the 

 | sun, which we described to him, and said 

 would happen in a few days. He received 

 I this communication with more temper than 

 the preceding, though he immediately as- 

 signed as a reason for his declining to go, 

 jthat " the Indians must now procure a suf- 



