way to the tent left
on the hill above the pines a gun and forty-eight balls which Perrault
had given to him when with the rest of Mr. Franklin's party he took leave
of him. It will be seen on a reference to Mr. Franklin's journal that
Perrault carried his gun and ammunition with him when they parted from
Michel and Belanger. After we had made a fire and drank a little of the
country tea Hepburn and I returned to the tent where we arrived in the
evening, much exhausted with our journey. Michel preferred sleeping where
he was and requested us to leave him the hatchet, which we did after he
had promised to come early in the morning to assist us in carrying the
tent and bedding. Mr. Hood remained in bed all day. Seeing nothing of
Belanger today we gave him up for lost.

On the 11th, after waiting until late in the morning for Michel who did
not come, Hepburn and I loaded ourselves with the bedding and,
accompanied by Mr. Hood, set out for the pines. Mr. Hood was much
affected with dimness of sight, giddiness, and other symptoms of extreme
debility, which caused us to move very slowly and to make frequent halts.

On arriving at the pines we were much alarmed to find that Michel was
absent. We feared that he had lost his way in coming to us in the
morning, although it was not easy to conjecture how that could have
happened, as our footsteps of yesterday were very distinct. Hepburn went
back for the tent and returned with it after dusk, completely worn out
with the fatigue of the day. Michel too arrived at the same time and
relieved our anxiety on his account. He reported that he had been in
chase of some deer which passed near his sleeping-place in the morning
and, although he did not come up with them, yet that he found a wolf
which had been killed by the stroke of a deer's horn and had brought a
part of it. We implicitly believed this story then, but afterwards became
convinced from circumstances, the detail of which may be spared, that it
must have been a portion of the body of Belanger or Perrault. A question
of moment here presents itself, namely whether he actually murdered these
men, or either of them, or whether he found the bodies in the snow.
Captain Franklin, who is the best able to judge of this matter from
knowing their situation when he parted from them, suggested the former
idea, and that both Belanger and Perrault had been sacrificed. When
Perrault turned back Captain Franklin watched him until he reached a