ur views, and, after making some minor
arrangements, we parted, mutually content. He left us on the morning of
the 31st, accompanied by Augustus, who, at his request, went to reside
for a few days at his lodge.

On the 4th of April our men arrived with the last supply of goods from
Fort Providence, the fruits of Mr. Back's arduous journey to the
Athabasca Lake; and on the 17th Belanger _le gros_ and Belanger _le
rouge_, for so our men discriminated them, set out for Slave Lake, with
a box containing the journals of the officers, charts, drawings,
observations, and letters addressed to the Secretary of State for
Colonial Affairs. They also conveyed a letter for Governor Williams, in
which I requested that he would, if possible, send a schooner to Wager
Bay with provisions and clothing to meet the exigencies of the party,
should they succeed in reaching that part of the coast.

Connoyer, who was much tormented with biliary calculi, and had done
little or no duty all the winter, was discharged at the same time, and
sent down in company with an Indian named the Belly.

The commencement of April was fine, and for several days a considerable
thaw took place in the heat of the sun, which laying bare some of the
lichens on the sides of the hills, produced a consequent movement of the
rein-deer to the northward, and induced the Indians to believe that the
spring was already commencing. Many of them, therefore, quitted the
woods, and set their snares on the barren grounds near Fort Enterprise.
Two or three days of cold weather, however, towards the middle of the
month, damped their hopes, and they began to say that another moon must
elapse before the arrival of the wished-for season. In the mean time
their premature departure from the woods, caused them to suffer from
want of food, and we were in some degree involved in their distress. We
received no supplies from the hunters, our nets produced but very few
fish, and the pounded meat which we had intended to keep for summer use
was nearly expended. Our meals at this period were always scanty, and we
were occasionally restricted to one in the day.

The Indian families about the house, consisting principally of women and
children, suffered most. I had often requested them to move to
Akaitcho's lodge, where they were more certain of receiving supplies;
but as most of them were sick or infirm, they did not like to quit the
house, where they daily received medicines from Dr. Richar