men, "Jim" and John, volunteered to undertake the walk. We thought the distance could not be more than fifty miles, and it might be considerably less. On the morning of the 16th the two men set out on their journey, while those of us remaining proceeded to move our tents back from the shore about two miles to the nearest woods, where we might make ourselves more comfortable, to await the success or failure of the relief party.
A sheltered spot was selected for camp, in a thick grove of spruce trees, and after clearing away about two feet of snow which covered the ground, tents were pitched, then well carpeted with spruce boughs, and a big camp-fire made. This was indeed a happy change from lying in canoes in the ice-pack. Clothing and blankets were now dried, and with the seal meat, and some ptarmigan which we shot in the grove, we were soon comparatively comfortable, with the exception perhaps of poor Michel, who suffered much from his frozen feet.
The reviving effect of the camp-fire upon our numb and half-frozen bodies was soon felt, though with the exception of François, the western half-breed, all of us at the camp were still very weak. Our veteran Pierre, who had done such good service with the paddle, now staggered in his walk, and as we were moving the tents from the shore back to the woods, he fell from sheer exhaustion and had difficulty in regaining his feet. Now in camp, however, and with meat enough to last us for a day or two, we were in a position to take a rest from our labors. Poor Michel's feet were in a bad state, and having no proper means of treating them, they
