1770. August.
{44} This unaccountable behaviour of the Indians occasioned much serious reflection on my part; as it showed plainly how little I had to expect if I should, by any accident, be reduced to the necessity of depending upon them for support; so that, though I laid me down to rest, sleep was a stranger to me that night. The following beautiful lines of Dr. Young I repeated above an hundred times:
"Tired Nature's sweet restorer, balmy Sleep;
He, like the world, his ready visit pays
Where fortune smiles; the wretched he forsakes:
Swift on his downy pinions flies from woe,
And lights on lids unsully'd with a tear."
—Night Thoughts.
9th.
1770. August.
After passing the night in this melancholy manner, I got up at daybreak, and, with the two Southern Indians, set out in quest of our deserter. Many hours elapsed in fruitless search after him, as we could not discover a single track in the direction which we were informed he had taken. The day being almost spent without the least appearance of success, I proposed repairing to the place where I had delivered the quadrant to him, in hopes of seeing some track in the moss that might lead to the way the Indians were gone whom our deserter had accompanied. On our arrival at that place, we found they had struck down toward a little river which they had crossed the morning before; and there, to our great joy, we found the quadrant and the bag of powder lying on the top of a high stone, but not a human being was to be seen. On {45} examining the powder, we found that the bag had been opened, and part of it taken out; but, notwithstanding our loss was very considerable, we returned with light hearts to the place at which we had been the night before, where we found our baggage safe, but all the Indians gone; they had, however, been so considerate as to set up marks to direct us what course to steer. By the time we had adjusted our bundles, the day was quite spent; seeing, however, a smoke, or rather a fire, in the direction we were ordered to steer, we bent our way towards it; and a little after ten o'clock at night came up with the main body of the Indians; when, after refreshing ourselves with a plentiful supper, the first morsel we had tasted that day, we retired to rest, which I at least enjoyed with better success than the preceding night.
11th.
In the morning of the eleventh we proceeded on to the West, and West by South; but on the twelfth did not move. This gave us an opportunity of endeavouring to ascertain the latitude by a meridian altitude, when we found the place to be in 63° 10' North nearly. It proving rather cloudy about noon, though exceeding fine weather, I let the quadrant stand, in order to obtain the latitude more exactly by two altitudes; but, to my great mortification, while I was eating my dinner, a sudden gust of wind blew it down; and as the ground where it stood was {46} very stoney, the bubble, the sight-vane, and vernier, were entirely broke to pieces, which rendered the instrument useless. In consequence of this misfortune I resolved to return again to the Fort, though we were then in the latitude of 63° 10' North, and about 10° 40' West longitude from Churchill River.[43]
FOOTNOTES:
[R] This was a proposal of the Governor's, though he well knew we could not do without their assistance, both for hauling our baggage, as well as dressing skins for clothing, pitching our tent, getting firing, &c.