r
garments stiffened by the frost. We had no means of making a fire to
thaw them, the moss, at all times difficult to kindle, being now covered
with ice and snow. A considerable time was consumed in packing up the
frozen tents and bed clothes, the wind blowing so strong that no one
could keep his hands long out of his mittens.

Just as we were about to commence our march, I was seized with a
fainting fit, in consequence of exhaustion and sudden exposure to the
wind; but after eating a morsel of portable soup, I recovered so far as
to be able to move on. I was unwilling at first to take this morsel of
soup, which was diminishing the small and only remaining meal for the
party; but several of the men urged me to it, with much kindness. The
ground was covered a foot deep with snow, the margins of the lakes were
incrusted with ice, and the swamps over which we had to pass were
entirely frozen; but the ice not being sufficiently strong to bear us,
we frequently plunged knee-deep in water. Those who carried the canoes
were repeatedly blown down by the violence of the wind, and they often
fell, from making an insecure step on a slippery stone; on one of these
occasions, the largest canoe was so much broken as to be rendered
utterly unserviceable. This we felt was a serious disaster, as the
remaining canoe having through mistake been made too small, it was
doubtful whether it would be sufficient to carry us across a river.
Indeed we had found it necessary in crossing Hood's River, to lash the
two canoes together. As there was some suspicion that Benoit, who
carried the canoe, had broken it intentionally, he having on a former
occasion been overheard by some of the men to say, that he would do so
when he got it in charge, we closely examined him on the point; he
roundly denied having used the expressions attributed to him, and
insisted that it was broken by his falling accidentally; and as he
brought men to attest the latter fact, who saw him tumble, we did not
press the matter further. I may here remark that our people had murmured
a good deal at having to carry two canoes, though they were informed of
the necessity of taking both, in case it should be deemed advisable to
divide the party; which it had been thought probable we should be
obliged to do if animals proved scarce, in order to give the whole the
better chance of procuring subsistence, and also for the purpose of
sending forward some of the best walkers to search for