Dead! I could not believe him.
"It is so sir," said St.Germain, "after hallooing and calling his name to no purpose I went towards our last encampment about three-quarters of a mile and found him stretched upon his back on a sandbank frozen to death, his limbs all extended and swelled enormously and as hard as the ice that was near him; his bundle was behind him as if it had rolled away when he fell, and the blanket which he wore around his neck and shoulders thrown on one side.

Seeing that there was no longer life in him I threw your covering over him and placed his snowshoes on the top of it." I had not even thought of so serious an occurrence in our little party and for a short time was obliged to give vent to my grief.

Left with one person and both of us weak, no appearance of Belanger, a likelihood that great calamity had taken place amongst our other companions, still upwards of seventeen days' march from the nearest establishment, and myself unable to carry a burden; all these things pressed heavy on me, and how to get to the Indians or to the fort I did not know but, that I might not depress St.Germain's spirits, I suppressed the feelings to which these thoughts gave rise and made some arrangements for the journey to Fort Providence.
October 18.
While we were this day occupied in scraping together the remains of some deer's meat we observed Belanger coming round a point apparently scarcely moving.

I went to meet him and made immediate inquiries about my friends.
Five, with the Captain, he said, were at the house, the rest were left near the river unable to proceed, but he was too weak to relate the whole.

He was conducted to the encampment and paid every attention to, and by degrees we heard the remainder of his tragic tale, at which the interpreter could not avoid crying.