Soon after our arrival, our employers sent their agents with a fresh assortment of merchandize and provisions, which rejoiced us exceedingly, {102} having been a considerable time without corn or grease, and absent from Michillimakinac about fourteen months. I delivered my cargo of furs, consisting of about one hundred and forty packs, in good condition,[73] and loaded the canoes with the fresh goods; then taking leave of my companions, prepared for my departure for the Inlands, to winter another year among the Nipegon Savages. But before I begin to relate my second adventure, I cannot forbear making some observations on the hardships attending an Indian life, particularly as an interpreter and trader. My salary was about one hundred and fifty pounds per annum, which I certainly deserved, considering the knowledge I had of the Chippeway language. I was sent into the Inlands with only corn and hard grease, without any other provisions I could rely on; for as to fish and other animal food, the former in a great measure depends on the season, the latter on the arrival of Savages; and though in general I was successful in aquatic pursuits, and received frequent supplies from the Indians, it was a precarious mode of subsistence, and at Lac la Mort I suffered great hardships. I had sixteen men, and an Indian and his wife occasionally with me, to feed and govern, and on the continuance of their health my existence in a great measure depended. As it was my constant duty to be in the way, in case of the arrival of Savages, being the only one who could talk their language, I had few opportunities of hunting, neither could I go far abroad to examine whether the Canadians did their duty or not: I {103} was therefore always full of anxiety, and rejoiced when the spring returned to set me free.