Volume 1

VOYAGE DOWN RIVER TO LANGLOIS.
II3
wind increased. I saw several small herds of buffalo and
red deer ; also wild fowl in great abundance. I overtook
the canoe a little below the Bois Perce. The wind
blowing directly ahead, they could make no way against it,
although they labored hard. We therefore camped at
four o'clock. I had killed two buffaloes and some geese.
The men complained that the canoe was heavy and
leaky. One of them had to be almost continually bailing
her with a dish, and we had no gum to repair her. This
evening I tied my horse's hind legs together with a strong
rope and put on his neck a long piece of line to which was
fastened a large log of wood. I took this precaution as I
supposed he was inclined to return to Crow's mare.
Oct. gth. We looked about for my horse, but he was
not to be found. He had broken the rope, and the cord
that fastened his legs, and was off. I sent one of my men
in pursuit, and took his place in the canoe. It was very
cold ;
the tops of the trees and willows were covered with
frimas [hoarfrost]. We were soon obliged to haul our
canoe on the beach, and with great difficulty turned her
up ; when we scraped off all the gum we could get from
her upper seams, gummed the bottom as best we could,
and launched her. In doing this our dish fell into the river
and sunk. We had nothing else to bail with. I therefore
used my hat for that purpose. But the gum soon cracked
and the water gained on us. We again hauled her up,
plastered her over with some stiff,
yellow clay we found on
the beach, and re-embarked, but had not gone above a mile
when, in spite of my hat, she filled and sunk before we
could reach shore. With great trouble we got her near the
beach, and by degrees emptied her. This was an ugly task,
in mud and water up to our middle. It was a long time
before we got her entirely clear, but our united efforts
We left her on the beach and made
could not turn her up.
a fire for the night. We had nothing to eat, and no
kettle to cook with. I had only the one pair of shoes that
were on my feet, and which were much the worse for wear.