broken guns, and a variety of other
articles. His spirit is supposed to make this its constant residence;
and here to preside over the lake, and over the Indians, in their
navigation and fishing."

In the spring of the following year (1768), whilst the snow still lay
many feet thick on the ground, he and his men made sugar from the
maple trees on a mountain, and for nearly three weeks none of them ate
anything but maple sugar, consuming a pound a day, desiring no other
food, and waxing fat and strong on this diet. Then they returned to
the banks of the Ontonagan River, where the wild fowl appeared in such
abundance that one man, with a muzzle-loading gun, could kill in a day
sufficient birds for the sustenance of fifty men. As soon as the ice
and snow had melted, parties of Indians came in from their winter's
hunt, bringing to Henry furs to pay him for all the goods he had
advanced. In this way the whole of his outstanding credit was
satisfied, with the exception of thirty skins, which represented the
contribution due from one Indian who had died. In this case even, the
man's family had sent all the skins they could gather together, and
gradually acquitted themselves of the amount due, in order that the
spirit of the dead man might rest in peace, which it could not do if
his debts were not acquitted.

In the following autumn he had an experience which showed him how near
famine was to great abundance, and how ready the Amerindians were in
cases of even slight privation to turn cannibal, kill and eat the
weaker members of the party. He was making an excursion to the Sault
de Sainte Marie, and took with him three half-breed Canadians and a
young Indian woman who was journeying in that direction to see her
relations. As the distance was short, and they expected to obtain much
fish by the way, they only took with them as provisions a quart of
maize for each person. On the first night of their journey they
encamped on the island of Naniboju and set their net to catch fish.
But there arose a violent storm, which continued for three days,
during which it was impossible for them to take up the net or to leave
the island. In consequence of this they ate up all their maize. On the
evening of the third day the storm abated, and they rushed to examine
the net. It was gone! It was impossible to return to the point of
their departure, where there would have been plenty of food, on
account of the strong wind against them. They ther