about midday
Regnar cut out no less than three pairs of moccason-boots , choosing the thickest skins , and then prepared them with the brain-paste for curing in the mild warmth of the air around the chimney . Waring cleansed the cooking utensils , and made up some bundles of fir-twigs to cover the bottom of the boat , and La Salle wrote up his diary , sharpened an axe , fitted a strip of pine board for a sprit to the blanket sail , and as bedtime drew near , went out to take a last look at the weather . It was quite cold , and the wind , although light , was from the north-west , as near as could be judged without a compass . As Peter had noted a change of wind about midday , the pack had probably again changed its course of drift from east to south-east , or , perhaps , a point farther south , as the general course of the current in that part of the Gulf ran from south-south-east to south . Returning to his companions , he communicated these details , closing by saying , -- `` As I think , we are now about due west of the Magdalen group ; and if this wind holds , we shall probably pass Amherst Island during the next twenty-four hours . If in sight , we must try to push through the ice to land , for the whole shore is inhabited . As many sealers should now be in this part of the Gulf , we should always be upon the watch for them . ''