“Tuesday, the 2d of January, 1838.—­I left Fort Chimo at eleven A.M., accompanied by the following men, viz.:—­

“Donald Henderson, Henry Hay, and two Indian guides, who are to accompany me throughout the journey; Pierre Neven and M. Ferguson go part of the way, each driving a sled of two dogs, loaded with provisions, the other men having sleds drawn by themselves.

“Wednesday, the 3d.—­Left our encampment before dawn of day.  Excessively cold—­some of us got frost-bitten, but not severely.  Our principal guide, finding his companion unable to keep up with us, set off to his lodge in quest of a substitute.  Encamped early, having proceeded about nine miles.

“Thursday, the 4th.—­Started at seven A.M.  Reached High Fall Creek at nine A.M.  Halted to wait for our guide, who soon joined us, alone, finding no person willing to accompany him.  Resumed our march at half-past nine; had not proceeded far, when we perceived that our young guide, Pellican, was left considerably in the rear.  We waited till he overtook us, and the miserable creature appearing completely exhausted with fatigue, we encamped at an early hour.  Eight miles.

“Friday, the 5th.—­Lightened Pellican’s sled, and set off at five A.M.; fine weather, though sharp.  Advanced sixteen miles.

“Saturday, the 6th.—­As the ice was covered with water close to our encampment, it was deemed advisable to await the light of day.  Set off at eight A.M., but found it impossible to move forward in consequence of the immense quantity of snow that had fallen during the night.  It continuing still to snow, and blowing a violent gale at same time, I gave up the struggle.  Advanced about a mile.

“Sunday, the 7th.—­Got up about three A.M., literally buried in snow.  Our blankets being wet, we waited in our encampment drying them till eight o’clock, when we started with only half loads, with which we intended to proceed to the first lake, and then return for the remainder; but to our great satisfaction we soon discovered that the tempest which had incommoded us so much last night had cleared the ice of snow; we therefore returned for the property we had left; then proceeding at a fine rate, having beautiful weather, we soon reached the lake; when my guides, discovering a herd of deer on an adjacent hill, immediately set off at a bound, followed by Pellican and my two brules.  I saw at once my day’s journey was at an end, and accordingly directed my encampment to be made.  Our hunters joined us in the evening with the choice parts of three deer they had killed.  Proceeded eight miles.

“Monday, the 8th.—­Very cold, tempestuous weather.  Our progress was much retarded by the great depth of snow in the woods through which our route lay.  Thirteen miles.

“Tuesday, the 9th.—­Blowing a hurricane; the cold being also intense, we could not venture out on the ice without incurring the risk of being frost-bitten; we therefore remained in our quarters, such as they were, until the weather should moderate.