The only inconvenience we now felt was from frequent showers of heavy rain; but the intervals between these showers being very warm, and the Sun shining bright, that difficulty was easily overcome, especially as the belly was plentifully supplied with excellent victuals. Indeed the {300} very thoughts of being once more arrived so near home, made me capable of encountering every difficulty, even if it had been hunger itself in the most formidable shape.
18th.
On the eighteenth, we arrived at Egg River, from which place, at the solicitation of my guide Matonabbee, I sent a letter post-haste to the Chief at Prince of Wales's Fort, advising him of my being so far advanced on my return. The weather at this time was very bad and rainy, which caused us to lose near a whole day; but upon the fine weather returning, we again proceeded at our usual rate of eighteen or twenty miles a day, sometimes more or less, according as the road, the weather, and other circumstances, would admit.[119]
1772. June.
Deer now began to be not quite so plentiful as they had been, though we met with enough for present use, which was all we wanted, each person having as much dried meat as he could conveniently carry, besides his furrs and other necessary baggage.
26th.
1772. June.
29th.
Early in the morning of the twenty-sixth we arrived at Seal River;[BN] but the wind blowing right up it, made {301} so great a sea, that we were obliged to wait near ten hours before we could venture to cross it in our little canoes. {302} In the afternoon the weather grew more moderate, so that we were enabled to ferry over the river; after which we resumed our journey, and at night pitched our tents in some tufts of willows in sight of the woods of Po-co-thee-kis-co River, at which we arrived early in the morning of the twenty-eighth; but the wind again blowing very hard in the North East quarter, it was the afternoon of the twenty-ninth before we could attempt to cross it.