454 



A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



on his way back. He returned in the afternoon of the 18th, having 

 found the blanket, together with a bag containing two pistols, and 

 some other things which had been left beside it. We had some 

 tripe de roche in the evening, but Mr. Hood, from the constant grip- 

 ing it produced, was unable to eat more than one or two spoonfuls. 

 He was now so weak as to be scarcely able to sit up at the fire-side, 

 and complained that the least breeze of wind seemed to blow through 

 his frame. He also suffered much from cold during the night. We 

 lay close to each other, but the heat of the body was no longer 

 sufficient to thaw the frozen rime formed by our breaths on the 

 blankets that covered him. 



At this period we avoided as much as possible conversing upon 

 the hopelessness of our situation, and generally endeavoured to lead 

 the conversation towards our future prospects in life. The fact is, 

 that with the decay of our strength, our minds decayed, and we 

 were no longer able to bear the contemplation of the horrors that 

 surrounded us. Each of us, if I may be allowed to judge from my 

 own case, excused himself from so doing by a desire of not shocking 

 the feelings of the others, for we were sensible of one another's 

 weakness of intellect though blind to our own. Yet we were calm 

 and resigned to our fate, not a murmur escaped us, and we were 

 punctual and fervent in our addresses to the Supreme Being. 



On the 19th Michel refused to hunt, or even to assist in carrying 

 a log of wood to the fire, which was too heavy for Hepburn's 

 strength and mine. Mr. Hood endeavoured to point out to him 

 the necesity and duty of exertion, and the cruelty of his quitting us 

 without leaving something for our support ; but the discourse far 

 from producing any beneficial effect, seemed only to excite his anger, 

 and amongst other expressions, he made use of the following re- 

 markable one: " It is no use hunting, there are no animals, you 

 had better kill and eat me." At length, however, he went out, but 

 returned very soon, with a report that he had seen three deer, 



