y the unexpected entrance of
Augustus. He had followed quite a different course from ours, and the
circumstance of his having found his way through a part of the country
he had never been in before, must be considered a remarkable proof of
sagacity. The unusual earliness of this winter became manifest to us
from the state of things at this spot. Last year at the same season, and
still later there had been very little snow on the ground, and we were
surrounded by vast herds of rein-deer; now there were but few recent
tracks of these animals, and the snow was upwards of two feet deep.
Winter River was then open, now it was frozen two feet thick.

When I arose the following morning, my body and limbs were so swollen
that I was unable to walk more than a few yards. Adam was in a still
worse condition, being absolutely incapable of rising without
assistance. My other companions happily experienced this inconvenience
in a less degree, and went to collect bones, and some _tripe de roche_
which supplied us with two meals. The bones were quite acrid, and the
soup extracted from them excoriated the mouth if taken alone, but it was
somewhat milder when boiled with _tripe de roche_, and we even thought
the mixture palatable, with the addition of salt, of which a cask had
been fortunately left here in the spring. Augustus to-day set two
fishing lines below the rapid. On his way thither he saw two deer, but
had not strength to follow them.

On the 13th the wind blew violently from south-east, and the snow
drifted so much that the party were confined to the house. In the
afternoon of the following day Belanger arrived with a note from Mr.
Back, stating that he had seen no trace of the Indians, and desiring
further instructions as to the course he should pursue. Belanger's
situation, however, required our first care, as he came in almost
speechless, and covered with ice, having fallen into a rapid, and, for
the third time since we left the coast, narrowly escaped drowning. He
did not recover sufficiently to answer our questions, until we had
rubbed him for some time, changed his dress, and given him some warm
soup. My companions nursed him with the greatest kindness, and the
desire of restoring him to health, seemed to absorb all regard for their
own situation. I witnessed with peculiar pleasure this conduct, so
different from that which they had recently pursued, when every tender
feeling was suspended by the desire of self-preservat