o ascertain his
exact whereabouts, with no trustworthy guidance and no prospect of
winter supplies or equipment, Hearne turned back towards the south.
This was on August 12, after a journey of nearly six months into the
unknown north.

The return occupied three months and a {48} half. They were filled
with hardship. On the very first day of the long march, a band of
Indians from the north, finding Hearne defenceless, plundered him of
wellnigh all he had. 'Nothing can exceed,' wrote Hearne, 'the cool
deliberation of the villains. A committee of them entered my tent.
The ringleader seated himself on my left hand. They first begged me to
lend them my skipertogan[1] to fill a pipe of tobacco. After smoking
two or three pipes, they asked me for several articles which I had not,
and among others for a pack of cards; but, on my answering that I had
not any of the articles they mentioned, one of them put his hand on my
baggage and asked if it was mine. Before I could answer in the
affirmative, he and the rest of his companions (six in number) had all
my treasure spread on the ground. One took one thing and one another,
till at last nothing was left but the empty bag, which they permitted
me to keep.' At Hearne's urgent request, a few necessary articles were
restored to him. From his Indian guides also the marauders took all
they had except their guns, a little ammunition, and a few tools.

Thus miserably equipped, Hearne and his {49} followers set out for
home. Their only tent consisted of a blanket thrown over three long
sticks. They had no winter clothing, neither snow-shoes nor sleds, and
their food was such as could be found by the way. The month of
September was unusually severe, and when the winter set in, the party
suffered intensely from the cold, while the want of snow-shoes made
their march increasingly difficult. The marvel is that Hearne ever
reached the fort at all. He would not have done so very probably had
it not been his fortune to fall in with an Indian chief named
Matonabbee, a man of strange and exceptional character, to whom he owed
not only his return to Fort Prince of Wales, but his subsequent
successful journey to the Coppermine.

This Indian chief, when he fell in with Hearne (September 20, 1770),
was crossing the barren grounds on his way to the fort with furs. As a
young man, Matonabbee had resided for years among the English. He had
some knowledge of the language, and was able to