face
and ears. I escaped from having the good fortune to possess a pair of
gloves made of rabbits' skin with which I kept constantly chafing the
places which began to be affected. At six P.M. we arrived at the
fishing-huts near Stony Island and remained the night there. The
Canadians were not a little surprised at seeing us whom they had already
given up for lost--nor less so at the manner by which we had come--for
they all affirmed that the lake near them was quite free from ice the day
before.

December 10.

At an early hour we quitted the huts, lashed on sledges as before, with
some little addition to our party; and at three hours thirty minutes P.M.
arrived at the North-West Fort on Moose-Deer Island where I was received
by Mr. Smith with whom I had been acquainted at the Athabasca. He said he
partly expected me. The same evening I visited Messrs. McVicar and
McAulay at Hudson's Bay Fort when I found the reports concerning our
goods were but too true, there being in reality but five packages for us.
I also was informed that two Esquimaux, Augustus the chief, and Junius
his servant, who had been sent from Fort Churchill by Governor Williams
to serve in the capacity of interpreters to the Expedition, were at the
fort. These men were short of stature but muscular, apparently
good-natured, and perfectly acquainted with the purpose for which they
were intended. They had built themselves a snow-house on an adjacent
island where they used frequently to sleep. The following day I examined
the pieces and to my great disappointment found them to consist of three
kegs of spirits, already adulterated by the voyagers who had brought
them, a keg of flour and thirty-five pounds of sugar, instead of sixty.
The ammunition and tobacco, the two greatest requisites, were left
behind.

I lost no time in making a demand from both parties and, though their
united list did not furnish the half of what was required, yet it is
possible that everything was given by them which could be spared
consistently with their separate interests, particularly by Mr. McVicar
who in many articles gave me the whole he had in his possession. These
things were sent away immediately for Fort Enterprise, when an
interpreter arrived with letters from Lieutenant Franklin which referred
to a series of injurious reports said to have been propagated against us
by someone at Fort Providence.

Finding a sufficiency of goods could not be provided at Moose-Deer Isl