298 THE FIRST DAY'S JOURNEY. 



of them looked as if they were going to their own 

 funerals, and wore that " My God ! what shall I do ? " 

 look that would have been amusing enough had it not 

 been alarming. One of these, without sufficient energy 

 to keep himself in motion, crouched behind a snow- 

 drift, and when discovered he had squarely settled 

 himself for a freeze. In half an hour his inclination 

 would have been accomplished. When I came up to 

 him he said very coolly, and with a tone of resigna- 

 tion worthy a martyr, " I 'm freezing." His fingers 

 and toes were already as white as a tallow-candle. 

 There was no time to be lost. I rubbed a little circu- 

 lation back into them, and, placing him in charge of 

 two men with orders to keep him moving, I saved 

 him from the serious consequences which would oth- 

 erwise have resulted from his faint-heartedness. With- 

 out waiting for more of the coveted drops of water, 

 I pushed on for the first snow-bank, and got my party 

 out of the wind and under cover. But this was not 

 done without difficulty. It seemed as if two or three 

 of them were possessed with a heroic desire to die on 

 the spot, and I really believe that they would have 

 done it cheerfully rather than, of their own accord, 

 seize a shovel and aid in constructing, if not a place 

 of comfort, at least a place of rest and safety. This 

 sort of thing at the start is not encouraging, but I 

 cannot say that I am much surprised at it ; for my 

 former experience has shown the hazard of exposing 

 men in the wind in such low temperatures. This, 

 however, is one of those things against which no fore- 

 sight can provide. No serious consequences appear 

 to have resulted from the event, and the sufferers are 

 growing more comfortable as the temperature of the 

 hut rises. We have had our rude camp supper, and 



