This was the sixth day since we had had a good meal, the tripe de roche, even where we got enough, only serving to allay the pangs of hunger for a short time.

After supper two of the hunters went in pursuit of the herd but could not get near them.

I do not think that we witnessed through the course of our journey a more striking proof of the wise dispensation of the Almighty and of the weakness of our own judgment than on this day.

We had considered the dense fog which prevailed throughout the morning as almost the greatest inconvenience that could have befallen us, since it rendered the air extremely cold and prevented us from distinguishing any distant object towards which our course could be directed.

Yet this very darkness enabled the party to get to the top of the hill which bounded the valley wherein the musk-oxen were grazing without being perceived.