he could not rejoin the party he would endeavour to gain the woods on the west end of Point Lake and follow the river until he fell in with the Esquimaux who frequent its mouth.  The Indians too with whom we have since conversed upon this subject are confident that he would be able to subsist himself during the winter.  Credit on his hunting excursion today found a cap which our people recognised to belong to one of the hunters who had left us in the spring.  This circumstance produced the conviction of our being on the banks of the Copper-Mine River which all the assertions of the officers had hitherto failed in effecting with some of the party, and it had the happy consequence of reviving their spirits considerably.  We consumed the last of our deer’s meat this evening at supper.

Next morning the men went out in search of dry willows and collected eight large fagots with which they formed a more buoyant raft than the former but, the wind being still adverse and strong, they delayed attempting to cross until a more favourable opportunity.  Pleased however with the appearance of this raft they collected some tripe de roche and made a cheerful supper.  Dr. Richardson was gaining strength but his leg was much swelled and very painful.  An observation for latitude placed the encampment in 65 degrees 00 minutes 00 seconds North, the longitude being 112 degrees 20 minutes 00 seconds West, deduced from the last observation.

On the morning of the 1st of October the wind was strong and the weather as unfavourable as before for crossing on the raft.  We were rejoiced to see Mr. Back and his party in the afternoon.  They had traced the lake about fifteen miles farther than we did and found it undoubtedly connected, as we had supposed, with the lake we fell in with on the 22nd of September and, dreading as we had done, the idea of coasting its barren shores, they returned to make an attempt at crossing here.  St. Germain now proposed to make a canoe of the fragments of painted canvas in which we wrapped our bedding.  This scheme appearing practicable, a party was sent to our encampment of the 24th and 25th last to collect pitch amongst the small pines that grew there to pay over the seams of the canoe.

In the afternoon we had a heavy fall of snow which continued all night.  A small quantity of tripe de roche was gathered and Credit, who had been hunting, brought in the antlers and back bone of a deer which had been killed in the summer.  The wolves and birds of prey had picked them clean but there still remained a quantity of the spinal marrow which they had not been able to extract.  This, although putrid, was esteemed a valuable prize and the spine being divided into portions was distributed equally.  After eating the marrow, which was so acrid as to excoriate the lips, we rendered the bones friable by burning and ate them also.