and when they arrived at the encampment appeared quite exhausted.
The former, bursting into tears, declared his inability to
proceed, and begged me to let him go back next morning to the
tent, and shortly afterwards Michel made the same request. I was
in hopes they might recover a little strength by the night’s rest,
and therefore deferred giving any permission until morning. The
sudden failure in the strength of these men cast a gloom over the
rest, which I tried in vain to remove, by repeated assurances that
the distance to Fort Enterprise was short, and that we should, in
all probability, reach it in four days. Not being able to find any
tripe de roche, we drank an infusion of the Labrador tea plant ( ledum
palustre), and ate a few morsels of burnt leather for supper. We
were unable to raise the tent, and found its weight too great to carry
it on, we, therefore, cut it up, and took a part of the canvass for a
cover. The night was bitterly cold, and though we lay as close to
each other as possible, having no shelter, we could not keep ourselves
sufficiently warm to sleep. A strong gale came on after
midnight, which increased the severity of the weather. In the
morning Belanger and Michel renewed their request to be permitted
to go back to the tent, assuring me they were still weaker than on
the preceding evening, and less capable of going forward ; and they
urged, that the stopping at a place where there was a supply of tripe
de roche was their only chance of preserving life ; under these circumstances,
I could not do otherwise than yield to their desire.
I wrote a note to Dr. Richardson and Mr. Hood, informing them
of the pines we had passed, and recommending their removing
thither. Having found that Michel was carrying a considerable
quantity of ammunition, I desired him to divide it among my party,
leaving him only ten balls and a little shot, to kill any animals he
might meet on his way to the tent. This man was very particular
in his inquiries respecting the direction of the house, and the course
we meant to pursue; he also said, that if he should be able, he
would go and search for Vaillant and Crédit ; and he requested my
permission to take Vaillant’s blanket, if he should find it, to which
I agreed, and mentioned it in my notes to the officers.
Scarcely were these arrangements finished, before Perrault and
Fontano were seized with a fit of dizziness, and betrayed other
symptoms of extreme debility. Some tea w'as quickly prepared for
them, and after drinking it, and eating a few morsels of burnt
leather, they recovered, and expressed their desire to go forward;
but the other men, alarmed at what they had just witnessed, became
doubtful of their own strength, and, giving way to absolute dejection,
declared their inability to move. I now earnestly pressed upon them
the necessity of continuing our journey, as the only means of saving
their own lives, as well as those of our friends at the tent ; and, after
much entreaty, got them to set out at ten A.M. : Belanger and
Michel were left at the encampment, and proposed to start shortly
afterwards. By the time we had gone about two hundred yards,
Perrault became again dizzy, and desired us to halt, which we did,
until he, recovering, offered to march on. Ten minutes more had
hardly elapsed before he again desired us to stop, and, bursting into
tears, declared he was totally exhausted, and unable to accompany
us further. As the encampment was not more than a quarter of a
mile distant, we recommended that he should return to it, and
rejoin Belanger and Michel, whom we knew to be still there, from
perceiving the smoke of a fresh fire; and because they had not
made any preparation for starting when we quitted them. He
readily acquiesced in the proposition, and having taken a friendly
leave of each of us, and enjoined us to make all the haste we could
in sending relief he turned back, k e e p in g his gun and ammunition.
We watched him until he was nearly at the fire, and then proceeded.
Duting these detentions, Augustus becoming impatient of the delay
had walked on, and we lost sight of him. The labour we experienced
in wading through the deep snow induced us to cross a
3 K a