Page:Narrative of the Discoveries on the North Coast of America.djvu/272

242 hunger, they made a fair distribution of the food, which is more, I suspect, than Europeans similarly circumstanced would have done. An old man, a woman, and two children had died in the course of the winter; and one blind old man, brought to the house, was hauled on a sledge, or led with a string, and sometimes carried by his wife and daughter. The party had separated from the rest of the tribe; and the number of men capable of hunting being disproportionally small, caused the misery that we had the satisfaction to relieve. Our own stock of food was meanwhile fast wasting away; for Dog-ribs, Hare Indians, and Chipewyans had now all congregated around us, and, instead of bringing us assistance, many of them drew rations from our store. Besides such occasional assistance, we constantly had some old or helpless persons left upon our hands.

No means were neglected to procure subsistence for ourselves and the natives. Nets were set in Dease River, but produced next to nothing; ammunition was liberally distributed, and, towards the end of the month, a few straggling deer were killed. About the same period the rapids in the lower part of the river broke up; and our sea-boats, which had been thoroughly repaired and strengthened, were dragged over