rce and an accumulation of drift
ice had in consequence barred the channel; over this the canoes and
cargoes were carried. The ice in many places adhered to the banks and
projected in wide ledges several feet thick over the stream, which had
hollowed them out beneath. On one occasion as the people were embarking
from one of these ledges it suddenly gave way and three men were
precipitated into the water but were rescued without further damage than
a sound ducking, and the canoe fortunately (and narrowly) escaped being
crushed. Perceiving one of the Indians sitting on the east bank of the
river we landed and, having learned from him that Akaitcho and the
hunters had gone in pursuit of a herd of musk-oxen, we encamped, having
come twenty-four miles and a half.

In the afternoon they brought us the agreeable intelligence of having
killed eight cows, of which four were full-grown. All the party were
immediately despatched to bring in this seasonable supply. A young cow,
irritated by the firing of the hunters, ran down to the river and passed
close to me when walking at a short distance from the tents. I fired and
wounded it, when the animal instantly turned and ran at me, but I avoided
its fury by jumping aside and getting upon an elevated piece of ground.
In the meantime some people came from the tents and it took to flight.

The musk-oxen, like the buffalo, herd together in bands and generally
frequent the barren grounds during the summer months, keeping near the
rivers, but retire to the woods in winter. They seem to be less watchful
than most other wild animals and, when grazing, are not difficult to
approach provided the hunters go against the wind; when two or three men
get so near a herd as to fire at them from different points these
animals, instead of separating or running away, huddle closer together
and several are generally killed; but if the wound is not mortal they
become enraged and dart in the most furious manner at the hunters, who
must be very dextrous to evade them. They can defend themselves by their
powerful horns against the wolves and bears which, as the Indians say,
they not unfrequently kill.

The musk-oxen feed on the same substances with the reindeer, and the
prints of the feet of these two animals are so much alike that it
requires the eye of an experienced hunter to distinguish them. The
largest killed by us did not exceed in weight three hundred pounds. The
flesh has a musky disagreeable flav