an elevated angry
tone; that Mr. Hood being seated at the fire-side, was hid from him by
intervening willows, but that on hearing the report he looked up and saw
Michel rising up from before the tent-door, or just behind where Mr.
Hood was seated, and then going into the tent. Thinking that the gun had
been discharged for the purpose of cleaning it, he did not go to the
fire at first; and when Michel called to him that Mr. Hood was dead, a
considerable time had elapsed. Although I dared not openly to evince any
suspicion that I thought Michel guilty of the deed, yet he repeatedly
protested that he was incapable of committing such an act, kept
constantly on his guard, and carefully avoided leaving Hepburn and me
together. He was evidently afraid of permitting us to converse in
private, and whenever Hepburn spoke, he inquired if he accused him of
the murder. It is to be remarked, that he understood English very
imperfectly, yet sufficiently to render it unsafe for us to speak on the
subject in his presence. We removed the body into a clump of willows
behind the tent, and, returning to the fire, read the funeral service in
addition to the evening prayers. The loss of a young officer, of such
distinguished and varied talents and application, may be felt and duly
appreciated by the eminent characters under whose command he had served;
but the calmness with which he contemplated the probable termination of
a life of uncommon promise; and the patience and fortitude with which he
sustained, I may venture to say, unparalleled bodily sufferings, can
only be known to the companions of his distresses. Owing to the effect
that the _tripe de roche_ invariably had, when he ventured to taste it,
he undoubtedly suffered more than any of the survivors of the party.
_Bickersteth's Scripture Help_ was lying open beside the body, as if it
had fallen from his hand, and it is probable, that he was reading it at
the instant of his death. We passed the night in the tent together
without rest, every one being on his guard. Next day, having determined
on going to the Fort, we began to patch and prepare our clothes for the
journey. We singed the hair off a part of the buffalo robe that belonged
to Mr. Hood, and boiled and ate it. Michel tried to persuade me to go to
the woods on the Copper-Mine River, and hunt for deer instead of going
to the Fort. In the afternoon a flock of partridges coming near the
tent, he killed several which he shared with u