204 



THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. 



CHAP. XIII. 



the smoke rose in dense volumes and hid the men from 

 our view ; our anxiety at this moment can better be 

 imagined than described. We ran to meet the men, but 

 the smoke blinded us. We lost the portage path, and 

 were compelled to run towards the river to seek safety in 

 its waters. Most fortunately we passed the path just as 

 the hindermost canoe was being borne on the shoulders of 

 the men at full speed, a few feet in advance of the flames. 



ESCAPE FROM A FIRE ON THE PORTAGE. 



We offered to relieve them of their load, but there was no 

 time to change, the smoke and ashes surrounded us with a 

 dense cloud, for the wind increased with the spread of the 

 fire, and came in little whirlwinds, driving the thick air in 

 circles and hollow cones before us. The men hurried on 

 without resting for one instant, and did not stop until 

 they had dashed the canoes, one after the other, into the 

 river, which luckily at the end of the portage was still and 

 deep. The Nasquapee, seeing the flames advancing, had. 



