We had a cold north wind and the atmosphere was foggy.  The thermometer 18 degrees at five A.M.  In the course of our march this morning we passed many small lakes and the ground, becoming higher and more hilly as we receded from the river, was covered to a much greater depth with snow.  This rendered walking not only extremely laborious but also hazardous in the highest degree, for the sides of the hills, as is usual throughout the barren grounds, abounding in accumulations of large angular stones, it often happened that the men fell into the interstices with their loads on their backs, being deceived by the smooth appearance of the drifted snow.  If anyone had broken a limb here his fate would have been melancholy indeed; we could neither have remained with him nor carried him on.  We halted at ten to gather tripe de roche but it was so frozen that we were quite benumbed with cold before a sufficiency could be collected even for a scanty meal.  On proceeding our men were somewhat cheered by observing on the sandy summit of a hill, from whence the snow had been blown, the summer track of a man, and afterwards by seeing several deer tracks on the snow.  About noon the weather cleared up a little and, to our great joy, we saw a herd of musk-oxen grazing in a valley below us.  The party instantly halted and the best hunters were sent out; they approached the animals with the utmost caution, no less than two hours being consumed before they got within gunshot.  In the meantime we beheld their proceedings with extreme anxiety, and many secret prayers were doubtless offered up for their success.  At length they opened their fire and we had the satisfaction of seeing one of the largest cows fall; another was wounded but escaped.  This success infused spirit into our starving party.  To skin and cut up the animal was the work of a few minutes.  The contents of the stomach were devoured upon the spot, and the raw intestines which were next attacked were pronounced by the most delicate amongst us to be excellent.  A few willows whose tops were seen peeping through the snow in the bottom of the valley were quickly grubbed, the tents pitched, and supper cooked and devoured with avidity.  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.  Had the herd discovered us and taken alarm our hunters in their present state of debility would in all probability have failed in approaching them.