At this Hendry's Indians grunted and said that
the French dared not do so. Next day Hendry took breakfast and
dinner at the fort, gave "two feet of tobacco" (at that time it
was sold in long coils) to his hosts, and in return received some
moose flesh. The confidence of his Indian guides that the French
would not dare to detain him was justified. Next day Hendry
paddled on up the river and advanced more than twenty miles,
camping at night by "the largest Birch trees I have yet seen."
Hendry wished to see the country thoroughly and to come into
touch with the natives. The best way to do this and to obtain
food was to leave the river and go boldly overland. He
accordingly left his canoes behind and advanced on foot. The
party was starving. On a Sunday in July he walked twenty-six
miles and says "neither Bird nor Beast to be seen,--so that we
have nothing to eat." The next day he traveled twenty-four miles
on an empty stomach and then, to his delight, found a supply of
ripe strawberries, "the size of black currants and the finest I
ever eat." The next day his Indians killed two moose.
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