On examination we found that the whole carcass was with them, the animal having broken through the ice in the beginning of the winter, in attempting to cross the river, too early in the season; while his horns, fastening themselves in the ice, had prevented him from sinking.

By cutting away the ice we were enabled to lay bare a part of the back and shoulders, and thus procure a stock of food amply sufficient for the rest of our journey.

We accordingly encamped, and employed our kettle to good purpose, forgot all our misfortunes, and prepared to walk with cheerfulness the twenty leagues which, as we reckoned, still lay between ourselves and Fort des Prairies.

Though the deer must have been in this situation ever since the month of November, yet its flesh was perfectly good.

Its horns alone were five feet high or more, and it will therefore not appear extraordinary that they should be seen above the snow." The next day they reached the Fort des Prairies, established by the Hudson's Bay people, on the verge of the Assiniboin country.