The dogs were gazing silently, with the wreck of their harness about them, and the sledges deeply buried in the snow.

The effects of this accident did not detain us long, and we proceeded afterwards with greater caution.
The air was warm at noon, and the solitary but sweet notes of the jay, the earliest spring bird, were in every wood.

Late in the evening we descried the ravens wheeling in circles round a small grove of poplars, and, according to our expectations, found the Indians encamped there.
The men were absent hunting, and returned unsuccessful.

They had been several days without provisions, and thinking that I could depend upon the continuance of their exertions, I gave them a little rum; the next day they set out, and at midnight they swept by us with their dogs in close pursuit.
In the morning we found that a moose had eaten the bark of a tree near our fire.

The hunters, however, again failed; and they attributed the extreme difficulty of approaching the chase, to the calmness of the weather, which enabled it to hear them at a great distance.
They concluded, as usual, when labouring under any affliction, that they were tormented by the evil spirit; and assembled to beat a large tambourine, and sing an address to the Manito, or deity, praying for relief, according to the explanation which I received; but their prayer consisted of only three words, constantly repeated.