All had been so anxious in seeing the passengers and crew landed safely, that they had not thought about providing for our future wants, and nothing in the shape of provisions or baggage had been brought ashore.  After they had looked around them for a few moments, the boat was again manned and the wreck was again explored for provisions, and a few pounds of hard bread, part of a quarter of fresh beef and some boiled beef were brought in, which was as one remarked, a “poor show” for a lunch for so many sharp appetites.  After having eaten this mouthful we proposed to start with as many as possible for Eagle river, which was judged to be about thirty-five miles distant, and a party of twenty-two in number set out.

It was noon when we started, with our clothes still wet and heavy, and little or nothing to eat.  We worked our way slowly through the cedar swamp; over logs and under logs, up ravines and down ravines, a crooked, trackless, toilsome way, till the middle of the afternoon, when we met two of our fellow passengers on their way back to the wreck.  They had been on some distance further, but worn out with the hardships of their journey and hunger, they had turned back disheartened, and advised us to do the same.  But we decided to go on, and on we went, through the worst cedar swamps in the world, till the thick woods began to grow dark with the shades of evening, and till a number of the party became completely exhausted with fatigue and hunger.  We then concluded to encamp for the night, although we could not have traveled in all the afternoon over five miles, or about a mile an hour.

Without an axe, a few sticks were collected, and two or three poor fires were kindled.  All the bits of hard bread, and fresh beef, in all a scanty meal for one person’s supper, was produced and rationed out to the twenty-two persons.  Every one ate as sparingly as possible, and as we were without tents, we lay down on the cold ground in our wet clothes before the fire, and dozed and shivered with cold till daylight.  As soon as we could see to travel, we proceeded on our toilsome way, and after walking about a mile we came to the trail that leads from Lake Superior to Portage Lake, and saw two or three Indians pushing out through the surf a bark canoe, which they soon jumped into and paddled away before the wind.  We tried to induce them to return, in hopes to procure something from them to satisfy our craving hunger, but they scarcely deigned to look back.

Some of our party had been from this trail to Eagle river, and it was some consolation to meet with a land mark that was known.  We now commenced walking along the beach, which was composed of large pebbles, covered in many places with logs and trees that had washed or tumbled in from off the overhanging banks, making it as tiresome walking as can well be imagined.  Frequently, in order to keep the beach, we were obliged to walk within reach of the dash of the waves, and were drenched with the cold flood.